Reflections
by The Emperor of Dreams
Summary: Events are set in motion when Adrena Lynn is released on parole. Shego wants to teach Lynn a lesson. Lynn wants revenge on Kim. Kim just wants Shego. Will any of them get what they want? Femmeslash.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kim Possible or related characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Shego hugged the ground as the cone of a searchlight glided past her position. The area around the prison was cleared of vegetation, and the best cover she could find was a slight depression in the ground. The bare earth under her felt moist with dew, but there was a smell of dust in her nostrils. She could but hope the light wouldn't land on her.

The spot of light moved away from her on its aimless quest, and Shego dashed forward. This wasn't quite the prison break she had planned, and she cursed Adrena Lynn for having rushed her timetable. When she caught up with her, the bitch would pay for that, too. At least the fortune had favored her with a cloudy night.

A searchlight lurched in her direction and she hit the deck again. She idly wondered why the prison relied on individually directed searchlights rather than having the area around the walls continually lit. It could be an effort to keep the guards alert by giving them something to do, but she thought the reason might turn out to be something stupid, like misguided penny-pinching, or compliance with light pollution laws. Whatever the reason, right now she was grateful for it. As long as the light wasn't on her, she'd be hard to spot from the wall in the darkness.

Still prone, she scanned her surroundings. Her target was the road ahead, visible in the dim light from lampposts along its length. Beyond the road was the edge of a forest, invitingly dark. She just needed to get through the clearing, over the fence and across the road without being seen. The cones of light moved away from her position, and she dashed towards the fence once more.

The perimeter fence was ten feet high and topped with barbed wire. Even that was overkill, as the fence was more intended to keep trespassers away than the inmates in. The serious security was behind her. The fence, bordering a public road, wasn't even electrified. It had had an alarm once upon the time, but according to her intelligence it had been disabled. Shego suspected the prison personnel had grown tired of checking out false alarms caused by squirrels and drunk teenagers. She scaled the fence and vaulted over the top with a gravity-defying move, never touching the barbed wire. She dove into the ditch bordering the road and scanned in both directions along it.

A jolt of adrenaline shot through Shego when she spotted a car parked not too far away. Was it a security patrol? Had she been spotted? Heart beating she surveyed the car. It had no lights on, and was parked as far from the dim lampposts as possible, which helped to explain why she hadn't noticed it sooner. It looked like a cheap, small European model, which meant it was almost certainly a civilian car.

What was it doing here? Had the need overtaken the driver? Perhaps it was some teenagers looking for a thrill. In the gloom, the outline of the car seemed to waver, and she couldn't tell if it was shaking. She could detect no movement within.

The car was both an obstacle and an opportunity. The key thing in a prison break was to get as far as you could before the escape was noticed. The longer the search perimeter was, the more thinly it was covered. She had intended to sprint through the woods, but a car would be much better. On the other hand, the occupant was a potential witness. If they were still in the car, she'd have to take them hostage. It's not like the kidnapping charges would make a lot of difference to her sentence. She started crawling towards the car. Luckily the ditch was mostly dry.

When Shego got nearer she could make out the silhouette of a person leaning against the car. It hadn't been there a minute ago, but she hadn't heard a door go. The figure was short and slim, and faced the prison. The head moved, scanning the road. Had she been wrong about the car not belonging to security? There was no belt encumbered by security paraphernalia. Shego cautiously crawled a little closer and took a hard look at the figure. With a shock she recognized her.

It was Kim Possible. What the hell was she doing here? Her first thought was that she'd been summoned to deal with her, but that didn't make sense. She was pretty sure her escape hadn't been detected yet, and even if it was, there was no way Kim would have made it here in time. Although it tickled her vanity to imagine Kim watching the prison just in case she might escape, she thought the pretty cheerleader had better things to do on a Friday night. Wasn't it past her curfew, anyway?

Shego supposed she could just ask her. There was little chance she could make it across the road without Kim spotting her, and she was still tempted by the car. She was sure she could take Kim one on one, even if Kim was the person who had sent her to jail. The problem was that her trademark Glow would be visible for a mile in the dark, and there was no way it wouldn't be spotted and recognized from the prison walls. The car wouldn't do her any good if they could have roadblocks in place before she even got it started. She was confident she could beat Kim even without the edge her powers gave her, but she wasn't as confident that she could subdue her before she managed to raise an alarm, or somebody spotted them fighting.

"You can get out of the ditch now, Shego," Kim said.

How had she even seen her? Shego was pretty sure she knew how to move stealthily, and the visibility was so low she hadn't even recognized Kim until she was twenty paces from her. Shego stepped onto the road and cautiously approached Kim, trying to decide on a course of action.

Kim might have alerted the prison already, though there was no visible activity. Then again, Shego knew Kim had a tendency for overconfidence; she probably figured she could take Shego without backup. She wasn't making any moves to call somebody or prepare for a fight, continuing to lean against the car. Shego couldn't think of a plausible reason for the hero's presence, and that made it difficult to guess what exactly Kim would do. Apart from fighting her, obviously; that was a given.

Shego was ten feet from Kim when the teenager moved. Shego dropped to a defensive stance and was completely caught by surprise when Kim lobbed a small dark package at her. She caught the soft package on instinct. Although she knew it was a mistake, she spared a quick glance at the bundle and identified it as clothes. She looked back at Kim, who was once again leaning against the car. Shego wondered if she looked as puzzled as she felt.

"A change of clothes. Personally I think you look good in orange, but maybe you'd like something a little less conspicuous."

No, that didn't help. Shego was still puzzled. She noted Kim herself was dressed in a dark hooded sweatshirt, hood down, and faded blue jeans, with her red hair in a ponytail. She was clearly aiming for an inconspicuous look herself.

"Aren't you going to change?" Kim said.

"Could you give me a little privacy?" If Kim turned her back for a second or two, she could take her down cleanly.

"I'm not going to turn my back on you, Shego. Come on, hurry up. The security patrol is a little lazy, but they will come around again eventually."

"You want me to change right here in front of you? Do you want to see my knickers that badly?"

"Shego, you were just in jail, surely you must be used to undressing with somebody watching."

That was true, of course, but being in prison meant putting up with things one didn't necessary like in everyday life. Shego wasn't one for exhibitionism. The thought of stripping in front of Kim, specifically, felt even more uncomfortable. She didn't want to give any appearance of vulnerability to her number one foe. Shego hesitated.

"Go change behind a bush if you're that embarrassed. God, Shego, I never figured you for a prude."

It occurred to Shego that as a cheerleader Kim was probably used to changing with other girls present and didn't see it as a big deal. She glanced at the woods. The underbrush was cleared for a hundred yards or more, and the trunks of the trees weren't wide enough to offer any privacy. She ducked behind the car to change.

When Shego stepped back out onto the road, she was dressed in jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, carrying her prison overalls. She didn't want to leave the garment lying around in case it was spotted.

"Get in," Kim said while getting in the car herself.

Shego was still mystified, but she didn't need another invitation. It certainly seemed like Kim's plans—whatever they were—coincided with her own, so far. She opened the passenger side door of the two-door car and sat down next to Kim.

"You can throw that in the back. Here," Kim said, handing her a trucker hat.

Shego turned to stash the overalls on the narrow backseat, in between two bags, then put on the cap. She supposed that was Kim's idea of a disguise for her. Now she just needed to figure out why Kim had given her a disguise, and was apparently giving her a ride.

As Kim started the car Shego considered attacking her. Kim was on her guard, tense and watching Shego from the corner of her eye, but in the confines of the car she should be able to just reach out and subdue Kim with one well-placed pulse from her Glow. It was her curiosity as much as anything that stopped her. She wanted to know what Kim was doing here.

The small road they were on joined the access road for the prison not far away. Shego tensed as they neared the intersection, but relaxed a little when Kim headed away from the prison, towards the interstate highway. She would have felt more than a little dumb if Kim had driven her back to the facility she'd just escaped.

"So where are we headed, Kimmie?"

"Well, most escaped convicts head for Mexico. Seeing where we are, Canada is a credible destination, too. To the east is Go City, where you might have contacts. So, I figured we'd take the highway west."

"I have contacts all over, Kimmie, and the feds have enough experience with me to know I won't be headed towards Mexico. Unless it's for a vacation." She was only making conversation; west suited her just fine.

"The feds also don't have the manpower for the search, it's the local forces who will organize the checkpoints and search parties. And no official got fired yet for going by the book."

Shego raised her eyebrows. She hadn't expected Kim to have such insight into the workings of the law enforcement, or to be so cynical about their competence. It made sense, once she thought about it; Kim doubtless dealt with law enforcement officers often enough, usually when they couldn't handle the job without her aid. In fact, there was a decent chance they'd just assume that Kim would deal with her sooner or later and not bother with a very extensive womanhunt.

"Kimmie, I don't want to give you ideas or anything, but I am escaping from a prison. Shouldn't you be trying to stop me?"

"I'm not a cop, Shego. I don't go on patrols and I don't have to respond to every crime I see. I just do missions in my spare time. I'll come after you when somebody asks me to."

Shego was pretty sure Kim wasn't being entirely straight with her. Sure, the teen only fought crime as a hobby, and usually the larger than life variety, but she was sure Kim was enough of a goody two-shoes to intervene if she saw a crime in progress, just out of civic duty. And there was no way she had been waiting near the prison by chance.

"Well, I suppose you're not on the payroll. But there's a slight difference between not coming after me and actively helping me evade capture."

"Shego, how long were you inside?"

"This time? Twenty days." Oh, she'd counted them.

"How many times have you escaped?"

"From prison? A dozen or so. I've lost count of how many times I've escaped police custody."

"So let's say I deliver you back to the prison. How long would it take you to escape again?"

"As if you could," Shego said. "On the off chance you somehow succeeded, a few weeks, probably, with them on alert. Unless somebody broke me out."

"So what good would it do? Sooner or later you'd be out again, and sooner or later you and Dr. Drakken would become my problem, again. I figure there's less chance for property damage or injured officers if I give you a hand."

Was Kim really helping her to avoid collateral damage? The logic was dubious: she'd still be out, and she was definitely going to cause some damage. Especially once she found Adrena Lynn. The wannabe needed to learn to keep her nose out of things that were none of her business. Her and Jack Hench. She needed to teach Jackie-boy a lesson, too.

She had had assistance in escaping before. Usually she'd been broken out to help with a job. Could that be what was going on here? Did Kim maybe need her help for something? They'd teamed up to help her useless brothers, before. Shego suddenly felt a cold chill. Could they be involved?

It was a scarily possible scenario: they had found out what Lynn was planning, her brothers and Kim got involved... But no, they wouldn't send Kim waiting by the prison on the odd chance she'd escape while she was there, in that precise direction. That didn't add up. They didn't really need her for muscle, and if they had questions, they'd try to visit her in the prison. They wouldn't do this cloak and dagger nonsense. Hego would never go for it.

Cloak and dagger suggested another possibility: some alphabet agency might need her for a deniable operation. She'd done government work before, though mostly in Europe. If they wanted their part to remain hidden, they wouldn't approach her in prison, but they couldn't do something so blatantly illegal and flashy as springing her out. If, however, they managed to conveniently run into her when she'd escaped on her own—and they might just have enough intelligence resources to time it right—it wouldn't really be on their heads. It wasn't their jurisdiction, after all. That seemed like the most plausible answer.

Why would the hypothetical agency, domestic or foreign, involve Kim, though? For her insight into her, maybe. A familiar face, and someone they might be counting on to be able to handle her. Or possibly to reassure her that they were on the level. Kim was naive enough to be played, but she would never knowingly involve herself with an underhanded operation. Yes, she could be here because an intelligence agency had wanted an intermediary everybody involved could trust.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when Kim grabbed the back of her head, not roughly. "Down," Kim said and pushed Shego's head in her lap. It brought very unfortunate thoughts to her mind.

From the corner of her eye Shego saw the glare of oncoming headlights playing around the interior of the small car. She tried to focus on them rather than the fact that her head was pressed against Kim's thigh, with Kim's hand still resting on her head. This was an entirely new kind of interaction with the cute teenager, and she found it just a little exciting. She wondered why Kim had decided to make her duck this time; this wasn't the first car they'd passed on the highway. It raised more inconvenient thoughts. The lights receded and Kim let her get back up.

"Kind of forceful there, Kimmie. If you want me to go down on you, at least by me a dinner first."

"It was a police cruiser," Kim said, her cheeks turning red. "I just didn't want them to see you."

"Or to see me with you, maybe?"

"That might be a little hard to explain, yes."

"Especially with my head buried between your legs."

"Shego!" Kim squeaked.

Shego smiled as the young redhead's cheeks turned an even brighter shade of crimson. The entertainment potential for this road trip just got a lot higher. She'd somehow forgotten how fun it could be to tease the innocent hero.

They rode on in silence for a while. It was Kim who interrupted it. "Could you even reach anything like that?"

I took Shego a moment to realize what Kim was referring to. When she did, her brows shot up. "Wait, are you actually considering the mechanics of lesbian sex in a car?"

"Never mind! It was just a random thought." Kim turned red once again.

Oh, there was no chance Shego was just going to drop this. "I have to admit I've never actually tried it, but if you're that interested I'm willing to help you experiment. I figure I owe you for the ride, anyway. Maybe if you push the seat back a little and slide forward... you'll probably need to lift one leg up on the..."

"I said never mind!"

Shego chuckled aloud. She wondered how much fun she could get out of teasing Kim. She wondered what Kim would taste like. She wondered why she was fantasizing about having sex with her greatest enemy.

There was the fact that she hadn't gotten laid in months, of course. Being cooped up in Drakken's lair didn't do wonders for her social life. She viewed the time between breaking out of prison and going back to break her employer out as her vacation time, a time to decompress without the presence of the annoying bumbler.

The vacation usually involved finding a place with a nice beach and an active nightlife, and a consequence-free hook-up with some attractive stranger. Shego could admit to herself that if she was in a car with a pretty teenager who was not her arch-nemesis and the bane of her existence, she probably would be trying to get inside her panties, frustrated as she was. She wondered if she'd inadvertently conditioned herself to associate jailbreaks with sex to the extent that she was now getting horny in a Pavlovian response to escaping.

She cast a side-ways glance at Kim. There was a cute rosy tint to her cheeks from the slowly receding blush. Her face had lost some of its wariness and was now focused and deceptively placid. The set of her mouth made it almost look like she was smiling. She recognized the look from some of their encounters: it was the look she had when she was engaged in some difficult and dangerous task and supremely confident in her ability to handle it.

She'd always found that look a little hot. It was certainly better than the look of haughty distaste or angry scowls she usually got when she faced off against Kim. Right now Kim's face was a mix of youthful innocence and mature confidence that pushed all of Shego's buttons.

Okay, she was a big enough person to admit that she found the often-annoying hero attractive. If she wasn't her enemy, if she wasn't straight, if she wasn't such a goody-goody she'd never go for it, if Shego wasn't too focused on finding Lynn, if it wasn't such a monumentally bad idea, if she thought for a moment there was the slightest chance it could actually happen, _maybe_ she would be tempted to sleep with Kim.

Shego needed a distraction from her thoughts and reached out to to turn on the radio. There wasn't much choice, out here in the middle of nowhere, but she managed to find a popular music channel. It was better than nothing.

She found out that Kim's taste in music left a lot to be desired. Kim was more familiar than her with some of the newer acts, but most of them were garbage, of course. She also had an unhealthy appreciation for boy bands, like a typical teen girl. She did surprise her by singing along to a recent MC Honey song.

"I didn't know you listened to rap, Kimmie."

"Not ordinarily, no, but I like her stuff. I actually sing back up vocals on this track. Uncredited, of course."

Shego's brows shot up. "You're kidding."

"I happened by the studio when she was recording, and she invited me to join her. Ron wanted to help out, too, but, uh, his voice wasn't right for any of the tracks MC Honey was working on."

"How do you know MC Honey?"

"I helped her out once. It's what I do, you know."

"Right." Shego decided it probably wasn't a good idea to ask Kim to get MC Honey's autograph for her.

They got to talking about a variety of topics. Shego found Kim surprisingly good conversationalist, even if she was an odd mixture of occasional worldliness and teenage obliviousness. She was certainly better company than Drakken or his henchmen.

There was a lull in the conversation, and Shego's attention wandered. The night was dark, and the only thing visible outside the car was the cone of highway lit by the headlights. It was almost like nothing in the world existed but her and Kim here in this car. The hum of the engine, long since receded to background noise, was hypnotic. Shego felt relaxed, which was strange given the company. She had things to do, Adrena Lynn the most pressing, but there was nothing she could do about it right now. She had no responsibilities and no cares in the world.

No longer on her guard, Shego realized how tired she was. She had been up for over twenty hours, and she hadn't had much sleep the previous night. Shego yawned and Kim soon echoed her from the other seat. It was possible she hadn't slept much, either. Shego stretched the best she could and sat up straighter. As much as she trusted Kim to play fair, she wasn't going to risk falling asleep next to her.

Shego cast another covert glance at Kim. She wouldn't have thought the two of them could get along so well. She concluded Kim wasn't so bad when she wasn't being a pest. It made her regret the fact they had to be on the opposite sides. Shego had been a teen hero herself, once. Maybe Kim, too, would wise up some day. They'd make a great team. There was so much she could teach Kim about crime, about the world, about pleasure. About women, maybe.

Shego sighed. She really needed to get her mind off that track. It wasn't going to happen. It wasn't going to happen with Kim, and it wasn't going to happen with anyone else either, until she had found and dealt with Lynn. She decided that she could mess with Kim some more, though.

When Shego spotted the next pair of incoming headlights, she plunged her head in Kim's lap. Kim twitched and drew a quick surprised breath, but didn't react beyond that. Shego let her hand rest on Kim's thigh, feeling the warmth through the jeans. She felt an answering warmth between her legs. With an effort she managed to stop herself from stroking Kim's leg. It occurred to her that maybe this course of action wouldn't help getting her mind off sex. She got back up, a little regretfully.

"What was that about?" Kim said. There was a faint tremor in her voice.

"I thought it was another police cruiser."

"Shego, it was a truck."

"Well, truckers have radios too, Kimmie."

"They also sit high enough to see you down there."

"Don't worry, Kimmie, they probably didn't think I'm an escaped convict, just a girl going down on another."

"And do you think that makes him less or more likely to mention it on the radio?"

"Good point. 'A couple of beavers going at it in a blue four-wheeler westbound on the big road.'" Shego pointedly looked at her shirt. "We're certainly dressed like a pair of lesbians."

"Shego, you can't tell somebody's sexuality from the way they dress. That's just stereotyping."

"Maybe you can't. Honestly, Kimmie, if you're going to make a habit of picking up girls you really ought to invest in a gaydar."

"Well, I'm doing okay so far, aren't I?" Kim turned to smirk at Shego. "You're the first girl I've picked up and you already offered to go down on me."

Shego was speechless. She hadn't expected Kim to get on board with this line of humor. She wasn't even blushing. Did her ability to adapt and deal with challenges apply to everything?

"I think we should get a room," Shego said.

Kim turned to look at her, raising one eyebrow. Shego found herself blushing a little. She hadn't actually intended that to be innuendo.

"The sun's about to rise, the traffic is picking up, and if they haven't noticed my escape yet, they will at the morning check. I need to get off the road. I'm sure there's a motel around here somewhere."

"There's one half an hour down the road. I've got a room paid up for the weekend."

"I'm impressed, Kimmie. You've certainly got this planned out. I'll be sure to call you the next time I'm escaping from a prison."

"I'm not planning on making a habit of this."

Shego wanted to ask her why she was helping her now, but didn't. She'd expected to have met Kim's contact already, but the prearranged motel room would certainly be where she found out whether her theory was correct or not.

Their last few miles together were tense. The conversation died down, and Kim seemed more nervous than she had at any earlier point. Shego tried to prepare herself. If there was somebody waiting to make her an offer, she'd hear them out: it might be interesting. If they insisted on her accompanying them right now, she'd have to turn them down, since she had prior commitments. She'd probably need to be fairly emphatic about it. That suited her just fine; after several hours cooped up in a not very large car she could use a workout.

Kim turned off the interstate and navigated the side roads towards the motel. She was getting increasingly nervous. That seemed off to Shego. In her experience, Kim almost never got rattled on missions. The only times she'd seen her nervous was in social situations, like when she'd crashed her date or when Drakken had faked her out with his synthodrone boy-toy. She didn't see why Kim would feel that way about taking Shego to see some government spooks. She started to suspect her theory was wrong, but couldn't come up with an alternative explanation.

Kim pulled in the motel parking lot and parked well away from the office. The horizon was getting brighter, but there was no-one in sight.

"Right, room 2. Here's the key," Kim said and yawned.

"You're not coming?"

"I need to start heading home."

"How long have you been up? You're in no condition to drive."

"I've got some coffee in a thermos. It's no big."

"Kimmie, I'm not going to let you get out of here this tired."

"I didn't know you cared."

"I'd hate to read that you wrapped your car around a tree. When you go down, I want it to be at my hands."

"Gee, that sure makes me want to share a motel room with you."

"Truce, okay? You did me a good turn, I'm not going to stab you in the back. No hostilities until morning. Well, until we both wake up."

Kim looked hesitant, but it seemed like she was considering it. It looked increasingly like there wouldn't be anyone waiting for her, just an empty motel room. Kim still looked nervous, though. Shego thought she had an idea for the reason.

"Look, you know I was just teasing you, right? I won't try anything. And these rooms usually have two beds."

"This one has a double," Kim said, blushing a little. Even though Shego didn't ask anything, Kim hurried to explain. "When I paid for the room the clerk kinda assumed I was setting up a romantic rendezvous. I, uh, I though it was best to let him think that."

It wasn't surprising somebody would come to that conclusion when a young girl reserved a motel room for a weekend. In a sudden inspiration, Shego came to a conclusion that _was_ surprising. It all added up: the unexplained pick up, Kim's increasing nervousness, even the places her mind had gone. It was a setup, but not by some intelligence agency; all of this was Kim's doing. Shego's heart started beating faster.

"You were, weren't you?" Shego said. She couldn't keep her astonishment from her voice.

"Shego, I'll come in with you, if you really want me to. But you have to mean it."

Shego just stared at Kim for a long while. When she eventually spoke, reaching to take Kim's hand, she tried to keep her voice gentle.

"Come on, Kimmie. Let's go to bed."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When Kim woke up, it took her a while to figure out where she was. When she did, she felt an onslaught of mixed emotions, sudden panic the most urgent of them. She fought it down; it was too late for regrets now. She opened up her eyes and looked around her. She wasn't surprised to find herself alone in the bed. Her outstretched hand felt the warmth from the spot Shego had slept in. The notion sent a thrill right trough her body. Her stomach felt fluttery, and a much more intense sensation sprang into being between her legs, an echo from last night.

She really went through with it. She marveled at the thought of actually having slept with the woman she'd lusted after for so long. Her body felt delightfully languid. It hadn't been quite like her illicit fantasies, but it had still been wonderful. She'd known Shego was more experienced than her, but she'd only dared to hope that she'd be as generous a lover as she had proven to be. She'd been so nervous when she'd followed Shego in, but the older woman had guided her along, more gently than she'd have expected.

Another bout of panic shot trough her when she realized how badly the night could have gone if Shego had been less kind, if she'd been demeaning or, even worse, just straight up laughed at Kim's desire. She probably should have thought about that beforehand, but she'd known deep inside her that Shego wasn't that bad, underneath her facade.

A sound had been working its way through Kim's consciousness, and she finally recognized it as the shower. Shego was still here. She smiled at the thought. She thought of getting up, but her body voted against it. She stretched and then dug herself deeper under the sheet, luxuriating in the warmth. She looked for a clock and noted the time was after one. The light streaming through closed drapes confirmed it was daytime. She'd slept for maybe five or six hours. She felt much more rested that that.

The shower stopped. Kim tried to compose herself. She needed to play it cool. She'd gotten Shego in bed, but there hadn't been any promises beyond that. She didn't want to come across as too clingy.

A hair dryer started up in the bathroom. With the amount of hair Shego had, it'd probably be a while until she got out. Kim loved Shego's hair. It was the first feature on the woman that had attracted her attention, even before she realized why being near Shego made her feel so odd. She'd thought about running her fingers through those wondrous raven locks long before she'd come to terms with having more than abstract appreciation for female bodies. She thought about volunteering to help Shego dry and brush her hair, but wasn't sure how she'd take it.

Kim went back to wondering how she was supposed to act. How did people act after a one-night stand? Did they shake hands and go their separate ways? Should there be hugging and kissing and hints about a next time? Should she be cool and collected or joke about it? Kim had no idea. She hoped Shego still respected her, then giggled at the cliche.

Shego emerged from the bathroom dressed in the clothes Kim had loaned her, her hair, still a little damp, hanging behind her.

"Good morning, Kimmie," Shego said, her face neutral.

"Morning, Shego," Kim said. She couldn't help a smile creeping onto her face. Was there an answering twinkle in Shego's eye? Maybe she just imagined it. She reminded herself that she'd decided to play it cool.

"Kimmie," Shego said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "last night was nice, but you know that's all it was, right?"

"Yeah, I get it. It won't change anything. Next time we meet, I'm going to put you in prison again. But thank you, for being so, uh, considerate."

"I'm not going to use this against you. I'm evil, not a jerk. But that's just for this one time, okay? Next time we meet, I will kick your ass and not feel the slightest bit bad about it."

Kim tried not to let it show on her face when her dreams cracked. She'd known that one night was all she'd get, going at it like this. She'd convinced herself that she was fine with it, that it was the most she could hope for. It hadn't stopped her from hoping Shego would feel something, that maybe the villain had harbored secret dreams of her own. It hurt that she could be so unmoved by their night together.

"Do me a favor, Shego. When you leave, don't steal my car. If I don't return it, there might be some inconvenient questions."

"Please tell me you didn't rent it under your own name."

"Nah, I have a set of fake papers Wade made for me. I needed them anyway, since I'm too young to rent a car."

"But of course you are," Shego said, sighing. "Kim, did I just land myself on the sex offender registry?"

"What? No, don't worry. I can give legal consent, in this state at least," Kim said. She was a little surprised Shego worried about that; it didn't seem to have bothered her last night.

"Are you really worried about that? I mean, you're already a criminal."

"There are the kinds of crimes that are good for your reputation, like the ones I do. And then there are the kinds that are not, and abusing children pretty much heads that list."

"I'm not a child!" Kim said, getting angry. She couldn't believe Shego would think of her as a child after sleeping with her.

"We're talking about reputation, and criminals aren't the most sophisticated people. They see 'statutory rape' and 'minor', and they don't care for much more nuance."

Shego was silent for a moment, then continued, "I was caught by surprise, that's all. You act so mature most of the time I didn't even remember you're underage."

"I'm going to have a shower," Kim said.

She got up and fought down an irrational desire to cover herself with the sheet. She was dressed in panties and a t-shirt, and Shego had seen quite a bit more of her last night. She went to her bag to collect her toiletries. The way she bent down over it with her legs held straight was perhaps not quite necessary, but despite her annoyance she felt a little thrill over the thought of Shego's eyes roaming her body. Maybe that would convince her she was all grown up.

* * *

Kim stepped under the shower. The warm water felt wonderful. For a moment she just stood there eyes closed, letting the water cascade over her, with rivulets running down her body. Eventually she reached for the soap and started washing herself.

She couldn't decide how she felt about Shego and the encounter. She'd asked for a one-night stand and she'd gotten it. She'd hoped for more and been disappointed. She knew it was unfair to be upset with Shego for not living up to her dreams.

She could have just said goodnight to the woman, planting the idea that their relationship could be more than just adversarial, but she had thought about having Shego for too long to turn the opportunity down. Kim smiled. It had been so good.

It wasn't quite the all-night session she had imagined. They had both been so tired that once the adrenaline wore down and they reached their respective peaks, they'd just drifted off to sleep. The primary reason she had rented the room for the entire weekend was because she didn't know when exactly Shego would break out; in fact, there had been a fair chance it wouldn't be this weekend at all. However, somewhere at the back of her mind had been a though that they'd shut themselves in the room and wouldn't come out till Sunday.

Kim regretted she hadn't just dragged Shego back in bed with her when she woke up. Her disappointment was wearing off, and the desire the villainess inspired in her was winning out. The stimulation from the shower might have had something to do with it, too.

One of Kim's hands wandered between her legs, and a light touch sent a shiver through her. She wanted to relieve herself so badly, but she didn't know if Shego had left yet, and she wasn't sure if the shower would mask the sounds. It did occur to her that it was a little odd to be too bashful to let Shego know she was touching herself while hoping that it was Shego's fingers down there. Or maybe her tongue. Kim blushed.

The hot water ran out, and Kim finished with a cold shower. It didn't help at all.

* * *

When Kim stepped out from the bathroom, dressed in fresh clothes, she was surprised to see Shego seated on the bed, flipping through a magazine she had found somewhere.

"Oh, you're still here," Kim said.

"Not going to walk out of here in broad daylight, Kimmie. You told me the room was paid for the weekend. I'm going to sit right here until the sun goes down."

"Oh, okay. There's some more food left, I can leave it in the fridge."

"Yeah, cool," Shego said, not looking at her.

Kim finished toweling off and brushing her hair and got her gear together. There wasn't much of it; just some spare clothes and toiletries.

"I'll leave the rest of the food for you. There's some fruit and sandwiches," Kim said. She felt the situation called for something more, but she wasn't sure what to say. "I, uh, I guess I'll see you when Dr. Drakken goes to work on his next plan." Kim headed for the door.

"Woah, woah, woah. Where do you think you're going?" Shego laid the magazine down and stared at Kim.

"Uh, home? I've got hours to go yet. I'd like to try to make it back in time for dinner."

"And maybe call in a hint about an escaped convict while you're at it?"

"Shego, I wouldn't do something like that. How can you even think so?"

"Can you look me in the eye and honestly tell me you're really okay with just letting me go?"

Kim couldn't quite bring herself to face the thief. If there was one downside to this plan, beyond her personal misgivings, it was that.

"It's what I committed to, when I set out on this..." Kim didn't quite know how to phrase her plan to get laid by Shego.

"Sure you did. A goody-goody like you probably springs people out of prison all the time."

"I didn't break you out. I just... failed to do anything about it."

"And gave me a lift. That's aiding and abetting, Kimmie."

"Do you really think I'd do something like that to you?" Kim wanted to add 'after last night', but decided against it. She sat down on the bed next to Shego.

"Arrange for me to be imprisoned? I seem to recall you doing that before. More than once, too."

"Those were missions. If you're so worried about that, why are you still here? I could call the cops right now."

"And reveal our sordid little affair to the world? I don't think so, Kimmie. That would be your reputation ruined."

"You could reveal that even if I wasn't here," Kim said. The thought caused her stomach to drop.

"Who'd believe me? I'm not interested in getting a reputation as a delusional, Kim-obsessed lesbo. But if somebody walks in on us together, here in your little love nest, I don't even have to say anything. The cops will jump to that conclusion all on their own."

"How can I convince you I'm not going to betray you?"

"Easy. Just wait here with me until evening. When the sun sets and the traffic dies down we go our separate ways, and anything that happened here stays just between us."

Kim looked at the clock. It wasn't even two.

"And what are we supposed to do all day?"

Shego's eyes flicked towards the bed. Kim giggled, relieved. It was a rather obvious idea, but as bitter as Shego had sounded right now, she hadn't thought the woman would be in the mood.

"Well," Kim said, affecting coyness, "I suppose if I have to, I might stay a _little_ longer..."

Then she was on her back and Shego's arms were around her and Shego's lips on hers and Shego's tongue in her mouth, and there was no more room for thought.

* * *

Kim's smile lasted for miles. The second session had been much more satisfying than the first. More than that, it raised the distinct possibility that Shego might not be averse to a repeat performance sometime later.

"I'm going to get you yet, Shego," she said to the empty car. "The hero always gets the girl, you know."

Kim had almost chickened out. She had spent almost all of the savings she'd spent months accumulating on this mission, just for the chance to get Shego alone. She had gotten that chance, but when it had come time to seduce Shego she had chocked, even when Shego herself had turned the conversation towards sex. If Shego hadn't figured out what was going on at the last minute, Kim would have just said good night and driven home, frustrated and disappointed in herself. She was glad that hadn't happened.

She wasn't sure where things would go from here. She thought there was a possibility they could have a relationship beyond a mere fling; she certainly was going to try for it. But even if Shego wouldn't want one, she would always have the memories of what had to be the best day of her life.

For the rest of the long drive Kim happily relived the encounter again and again, trying to commit every moment to memory, and fantasized about a possible future.

* * *

It was after three in the morning when Kim finally made it home, so she could be forgiven for not having expected her mother to be waiting up for her.

"How was the mission, Kim?" Dr. Possible said from the couch. She reached for the remote and switched the television off.

"Uh, you know, stakeouts. Nothing much happened."

"You could have let us know your schedule a little earlier, you know."

"It wasn't really up to me. You didn't have to wait up, Mom."

"Do you know why we let you do your missions, Kim? Why we let you jet around the world at the drop of the hat with no adult supervision?"

"Because you're ferociously cool?"

"It's because we trust you, Kim."

"Oh. Right." Kim had a bad feeling about this.

"It has never even occurred to us that you might abuse that trust to use missions as an excuse to get around curfew. Is there any reason for us to question that trust in you?"

"Uh..." Kim didn't like lying. She especially didn't like lying to her parents.

"Kimberly Ann, look me in the eye and tell me this was a real mission. Please."

"I, um, might have embellished some details?"

Dr. Possible sighed. Kim very rarely saw her parents look disappointed in her. It was not a comfortable experience.

"Please tell me it's not what it looks like."

"Uh, what does it look like?"

"You tell me what you'd suspect if your teenage daughter arranged to be away for a night under false pretenses and came home walking on air."

It occurred to Kim that there were a number of entirely believable explanations, but she knew which one her mother meant. She also happened to be right. She didn't manage to get a word out; her mother seemed to take it as a confirmation of her fears.

"Please tell me you were careful."

"Mom, I'm not... I'm not going to get pregnant." Saying that aloud wasn't comfortable, for either of them. Dr. Possible closed her eyes with a pained expression. Kim wondered if her mother knew this hadn't been the first time for her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mom. I know how it works. I didn't do anything that could get me pregnant." Not to mention she hadn't done it with anyone who could get her pregnant, at least not without a serious application of mad science. She wondered if she should come out to her mother. It probably wouldn't get her in any more trouble, and it might distract her from the rest of the lecture.

"What about STIs?"

"Mom, do we have to talk about this now?"

"I seem to recall we already had a talk about this, but clearly you didn't take everything to heart. Are you safe?"

Kim didn't know. They hadn't used any protection. She just hadn't thought about it. It never occurred to her that someone as gorgeous as Shego could be marred with an infection. It was stupid of her, since she knew Shego did hook-ups, with both men and women; it's how she'd known her plan had a chance of success. It was quite possible she might have picked up something along the way.

"I'm not sure," Kim said.

"Should I arrange for you to be tested?"

"No, I'll do it. It's my fault."

Dr. Possible got up and hugged Kim tight. "You know that I love you, Kim, don't you? I'm mad at you, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. You and your brothers are the most precious things to me in the entire world. I just want you to be okay."

"Mom, it's going to be okay. My missions are a lot more dangerous than..." Kim found that she couldn't say 'sex' aloud to her mother. Dr. Possible let out a short laugh.

"I suppose it is a little funny I'm much more comfortable with you out to fight villains than sneaking out with a boy." She let Kim go.

"Was this the first time?"

"This was the first time I used a mission as an excuse." The blatant evasion also answered the other possible question, of course. "It won't happen again."

"I know it won't."

"Mom, you're not going to stop me from doing missions, are you? They aren't just for me, there's a lot of people out there who need help."

"Kim, you betrayed our trust in you; there are going to be consequences."

"I know... but missions?"

"I'll have to think about it. If I ground you or forbid any missions your father will want to know the reason, and I'm not sure yet if I want to tell him. I'm not sure he's ready to learn her little girl isn't a little girl anymore."

There was another pause as Kim tried to think of something to say.

"Is it anyone I know?"

"No, Mom." They'd met, but Kim didn't think that counted as knowing her.

"Someone you met on your missions?"

"Yeah."

"Is it someone you feel comfortable bringing home?"

"Not really."

"Someone older and exiting, maybe? Perhaps a little bit dangerous?"

Kim froze as she began to think her mother knew who it was. Dr. Possible sighed.

"Kim, teens have curfews for a reason. I know what it's like to be tempted by the forbidden, or to want to rebel against your parents' wishes, but when you're young you can make really bad decisions you regret later. I know it feels like parents don't understand anything, but we just want to protect you."

"I'm not going to regret it, Mom. Remember what we talked about with Nana? How she didn't regret anything she'd done, only things she hadn't."

"I'm not sure this is what she was talking about, Kim."

"I think this is exactly the kind of thing she meant. Yeah, maybe it was impulsive, and maybe I didn't think things all the way through, but I don't think I'm going to regret it when I look back on my life. But if I hadn't done it, I'd always be wondering what it would have been like."

"I hope you're right, Kim." Dr. Possible looked at the clock. "Go to sleep, Kim. Tomorrow we'll figure out your punishment."

"Good night, Mom."

"Good night, Kim."

Kim walked up to her room and unpacked her bag. Even though it was the middle of the night and she was alone, she glanced around before she pulled out the orange prison overalls. She carefully straightened the article of clothing and hung it at the very back of her closet, next to a black and green catsuit. She stripped out of her clothes and threw them in a hamper, putting on a fresh t-shirt and pajama pants.

Out of a sense of duty Kim opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out her Kimmunicator. She turned the device back on and noticed Wade had tried to contact her three times over the weekend. She decided to call him back in the morning, even though she suspected there was a decent chance he was still up. She placed the device on her nightstand.

Kim turned out the lights, crawled under the blanket, and cried herself to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Shego's eyes kept roving, from the road to the occupants of oncoming cars illuminated in her headlights, to the rear-view mirror of the stolen car. The radio was on, tuned to a local channel with news programming. She was mildly insulted her escape hadn't been mentioned yet. She was on the most wanted list, after all. It did mean the civilians would be unlikely to pay enough attention to recognize her, though.

She kept to the speed limits, as she didn't want to draw unwanted attention. She wished the car had a CB radio; the truckers gave the best information on police presence. The police wouldn't be able to stop her, but she needed some freedom of movement to go after Adrena Lynn and so didn't want to be noticed at all.

Her mind turned to the problem of intercepting the woman. On one hand, she had a couple of days' head start and, being on parole, didn't need to lay low all day. On the other hand, Shego knew where she was headed. The most obvious solution was to beat Lynn to her target and wait for her there. The most obvious problem with that approach was that it was possible she'd already gotten what she was looking for and was holed up somewhere planning her next move.

Shego almost wished she hadn't succumbed to the temptation to sleep with Kim, but couldn't really bring herself to regret it. She had needed to lay low anyway, and there were definitely worse ways to pass the time than in bed with a flexible and adventurous cheerleader with a hidden wild side. Or, Shego reflected, not quite so hidden, given her hobby. A smile spread on Shego's face, and she made no attempt to banish it since there was no-one to see it.

"Who knew little Miss Perfect had the hots for the big, bad Shego?" Shego said. The car didn't answer. Shego wondered what the world would think if anybody found out that the world famous teen hero was a lesbian who delighted in sneaking out to seduce notorious criminals. Oh, how deliciously scandalous.

Not that Shego was going to advertise it; she didn't kiss and tell. Kim really was rather a good kisser for a teen. Shego wondered who she'd practiced with. That cute guy she'd seen her on a date with? Other high school girls? Girls, probably, since guys only had the one pair of lips. Kim was quite good at many things, and delightfully eager to show off her skills. Shego suspected that might just be the most orgasms she'd had in a day. Well, she'd always known Kim had stamina.

Shego wrested her thoughts away from the cute redhead and tried to focus on the problem at hand. Thinking about it, Shego became more confident that Lynn hadn't yet hit the location. She might know the layout, she might know the security setup, but she was not a burglar. She'd almost certainly need to enlist some help, and since that definitely violated her parole, she'd need to be careful about it. Perhaps she'd be better advised to try to locate Lynn before she got to Hench's facility. She'd need to hit the lab herself afterward, but, unlike Lynn, she was quite capable of doing that by herself.

Maybe she shouldn't have kissed Kim quite as much as she had. It was obvious—well, it was obvious to her, now—that the girl had a bit of a crush on her. She probably wanted more than just a hook-up, and all that kissing had likely just encouraged her. Shego didn't think she could really be blamed for it, though. Kim was just too darn kissable.

Lynn would need someone to disable the security, at least, and probably some muscle since Hench's facilities tended to be well guarded. She'd need a discreet location to meet and store equipment. She almost certainly didn't have the sort of underworld contacts she'd need to get all that together straight away, so she'd need to ask around, and the word would spread. Shego didn't have a lot of local contacts, but she had some, and a whole lot of reputation. She should be able to learn about her plans easily enough.

Shego didn't think Kim loved her, really. She suspected it was mostly young lust, but it seemed to her Kim might be the kind of nice girl who had to rationalize her desire by dressing it up as love. She wondered how long Kim had planned this little rendezvous. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing; it had taken considerable planning and preparation.

And how had Kim known she'd be breaking out that night? She hadn't known that until Lynn forced her hand. Was she so predictable with her escapes, or had Kim just gotten lucky? Shego grinned. Well, she'd definitely gotten lucky. Kim was more experienced than she'd have expected from such a goody-goody, but she'd shown her some knew things. She felt confident Kim would be smiling for a week.

Shego wondered how she'd got to thinking about Kim, again. She instructed her brain to drop it. She would be facing off against her soon enough, and she didn't need distractions then. It was just a one-time thing. No need to go soft on the girl just because they had some fun together.

* * *

Shego got off the highway and headed for the industrial area on the outskirts of the small town of Springfield. She navigated the staging yards and wholesalers in search of a small self-storage business. It was one of the safe houses Shego had set up. Drakken's money had paid for it, which Shego thought was fair, since the stated purpose of it was to form a temporary base for Shego as she worked to spring Drakken out of prison.

She left the stolen car a block away and approached the warehouse on foot. She almost wished she knew a chop shop in the neighborhood, but with all the stuff stashed in the hideout she really didn't want the police to have any extra reason to snoop around here. Of course, chances were she wasn't the only one using a lot around here for shady purposes.

She also couldn't help being a little conspicuous. There was some activity even at this hour, deliveries mostly and a couple of workshops working into the night, but not a lot of lone women walking around. She was pretty sure no-one was observing her as she entered the storage unit.

It wasn't a large space. Partitioned off from a larger warehouse, it was more like an oversized garage. Near the double doors rested the tarpaulin-covered shape of one of Drakken's hover cars. Shego barely glanced at it. It was handy for many things, but too conspicuous for this job.

There were some crates full of supplies against a wall, and some locked cabinets for more useful and valuable items. There was another room with a cot, a fridge, a microwave oven, and a shower stall: all the comforts of home. Having them installed here was quite illegal, of course, but it wasn't like it was the only way she was breaking the law. Shego was tempted to call it a night and just go to sleep, but she needed to get things rolling. She did grab a cold beer from the fridge, however, and cracked it open.

She opened up one of the cabinets, and collected a laptop and some surveillance equipment: cameras, a directional microphone, good old binoculars. She carefully packed them into a messenger bag. She shoved a sleeping bag and a pad into a duffel bag, in case she found somewhere better to sleep than a car. She added some rations from one of the crates, just in case, but she hoped she didn't have to actually eat them.

She opened another cabinet and pulled out a spare suit. She considered changing into it, but decided to stick with the clothes Kim had given her for the time being. She packed the suit into the duffel bag, along with her standard tools. She locked the cabinets and cast one last look around. She didn't thing she needed any other equipment for the time being.

Shego entered the living area and moved the cot to get at a hidden floor safe. She opened it up and extracted a few thousand in ready cash. She closed the safe and moved the cot back in place. She shouldered the bags and made to leave, then thought better of it. She got another beer and sat down on the cot.

She slowly sipped the beer as she thought the problem over. She'd done little else over the trip here, but it was wonderful how a cold drink and a little breather cleared the mind. A few minutes weren't going to make any difference. If Lynn was ready to hit Hench's R&D center in Upperton tonight, then she would be done before Shego got there. On the other hand, even she wouldn't be dumb enough to try to burglarize the place in broad daylight, so Shego would have plenty of time to set up before her next opportunity.

She'd need a set of wheels to get there. She had a stolen car, and although her first instinct was to get rid of it and get a new one, there were logistical difficulties. She didn't want to leave it anywhere it would be discovered. It wasn't obvious that a car theft hundreds of miles from the prison would be connected to her, but it was at a motel parking lot off a highway that passed the prison. If she had some smart cookies on her tail—and surely she rated some—they might make that connection. And if that car turned up here, it would draw a neat arrow to her general location. She could dump it in the middle of the woods, somewhere, but then she'd have to hike back to civilization and secure a new ride. That would only increase the chances of her being spotted.

Shego drove the car in through the double doors. It was not an easy operation with the safe house lights turned off. She'd had to move the hover car and quite a few of the crates to make room for the car, and it still wasn't a very generous fit. She turned off the engine and wormed her way out of the car. She closed the warehouse doors before turning on the lights again.

Shego congratulated herself on her preparedness as she set to changing the plates on the stolen vehicle. She considered spray-painting the car, but decided that an obviously improvised paint job would make it more likely to stick out than the fairly common stock color. Once she was finished she was sweaty and grimy, and she decided to have a shower after all. She'd earned one.

The falling water caressing her body reminded her of her last shower, earlier in the day. The one she'd had after waking up naked next to Kim Possible. Suddenly the thought seemed surreal to her. She'd had sex with Kim Possible. She'd actually slept with her teenaged nemesis. Once again, the memories of their love-making came pouring into her mind and this time she didn't attempt to immediately banish them. Her hands started to stray lower, but the thoughts didn't bring with them the arousal she expected; she was still quite thoroughly sated. Instead, the memories filled her with deep contentment.

If someone had asked her to guess, Shego would have said Kim would be a bashful and passive lover, someone who needed to be coaxed to enjoy herself. Now Shego wondered why she'd ever thought that; it didn't really fit the active, confident, and aggressive young woman she'd faced more than once. She had been much the same in bed, eager to please and to be pleased, ever ready to try new things.

Shego exited the shower and grabbed a towel, yawning. She hadn't been awake for that long, but then again she hadn't slept much the past few days, with her rushed escape. She quickly toweled off. The room had no heating and was cold at nights. The bare floor was positively freezing.

She hunted around for an alarm clock and set it to wake her at noon, which should give her plenty of time to get to Upperton in time. She pulled back the covers on the cot, thankful that she'd put in fresh sheets the last time she'd inspected the place. She dropped the towel on a chair, and crawled into bed. For a moment she thought there was something missing, but couldn't figure out what it was. Her tired mind soon lost the thread of thought, and she fell asleep in a couple of minutes.

* * *

Shego observed the HenchCo R&D facility through her binoculars. It didn't really look like a high-tech operation. Rather than a gleaming building of glass and steel, it occupied an old factory made of red brick, one of several left over from Upperton's industrial past. There was still some light industry left on the outskirts of the city, but most of the warehouses and factories were torn down or converted to other uses. The lots on either side of the facility were empty, strewn with debris from demolished buildings. Behind the red brick building was an old warehouse, still in some use.

Shego wondered why the facility was set up here. True, the proximity to Middleton and its surprising concentration of scientists and engineers probably helped with recruiting, but it would make more sense to locate the place in Middleton itself. Shego was glad it wasn't, since it made it less likely she'd run into inconvenient redheads, but it was a little puzzling.

Shego turned her gaze to the buildings surrounding the factory. Her interest was mostly drawn to a multistory building with a good view of the factory over a vacant lot. The building was also of red brick, but newly built. The signs showed the building was occupied by a number of small businesses, no doubt attracted by rents lower than in downtown Upperton. Many windows had no signs in them, suggesting they were unoccupied. Shego put away her binoculars and made her way towards the building.

Shego stopped the car near the building entrance and looked around. There were no lights in the lobby and no signs of activity. There was a cheap security camera sticking from the wall, pointed to cover the area in front of the doors. It would probably pick up cars parked by the curb, but Shego had parked outside its coverage.

She aimed the binoculars at the doors and adjusted them until she could distinguish the security provider's sticker. She couldn't hold the binoculars steady enough to read the text, but she could recognize the company from the general outline and colors. It gave her an idea of what the alarm would be like. She had the tools to bypass it, but there was likely an easier way in. She pulled away.

On the side of the building was a simple wooden door, with an equally simple lock. There was no camera in sight. Shego pulled a probe from her pocket and examined the edges of the door for signs of an alarm system. She found no trace of one, as she'd expected. Any security setup was only as good as its weakest link, but it was not uncommon to find locations with blatant security holes. Whoever was responsible for the physical security for the building was clearly not serious about it. She was morally certain the setup at the main entrance was strictly to meet the requirements of the insurance company.

Shego put away the probe and looked around to check she was still unobserved. There was no movement on the streets. The small parking lot next to the building was empty. She pulled out her good lockpick, which was almost certainly overkill with the laughably simple lock. She had it open in a matter of seconds. She put her tools away, pulled out a flashlight and slipped inside.

She found herself in a small storage room. The floor was bare concrete, there were stalls formed from wooden planks and chicken wire lining two walls, and crates, barrels and various boxes in loose piles arranged on the floor. It had a surprisingly temporary air compared to the rest of the building. She quickly made her way trough the room to a metal fire door on the opposite wall. It seemed a little incongruous that the space appeared better protected from those inside the building than from those outside. The door was locked, but didn't require a key to open from the inside. Shego cautiously stepped through.

The door opened to a short corridor. On one side it ended in a door Shego guessed led to the loading yard at the back of the building. It was one possible entrance, but the yard probably had cameras, if only to keep the deliverymen honest. The other end of the corridor opened to the side of the lobby. Shego carefully peered around the corner, but didn't see anyone, or any cameras.

The lobby had a few low benches along the walls, some standing signs, and little else. There didn't appear to even be a desk for a receptionist or a security guard. A long and wide corridor led away from the lobby. On the side facing the front of the building, according to the signs, was a lunch cafeteria, the other had two elevators for people and, further along the corridor, two cargo elevators. She couldn't see the stairwell, but guessed it was next to the elevators in the corner she couldn't see from her position. Not seeing any reason for further stealth, she stepped fully into the lobby and found out she was right. She headed for the stairs.

She exited the stairwell at the highest floor, and emerged near the end of a long corridor running nearly the length of the building. She walked to the further end, noting that only one of the doors she passed had any markings on it. It was a company logo that said nothing to her. None of the other spaces on the floor appeared to be in use, and the locks were flimsy. She picked a lock to a door at the end of the corridor, on the side facing the HenchCo facility. She slipped in unobserved.

The space consisted of a large open area along the side of the building towards the redbrick factory, and five small rooms opening onto it, on the short sides. The two rooms facing the outer wall were small offices, the rooms on the other end seemed to be a bathroom, a cleaning closet and a small kitchen. There was a cheap table and a couple of chairs in one of the offices, and some metal shelves piled along the wall in the large room. The bathroom was almost empty. There was a mostly-full roll of toilet paper hanging from the holder, but no soap or towels. The cleaning supplies closet held some cleaning fluids on a shelf, two mops and a bucket.

Shego decided the place would do well. She expected Adrena Lynn to make her move in the next few days, and didn't think it likely her borrowing the rooms would be discovered in the meanwhile. The place looked tolerably dustless, so it was presumably cleaned occasionally, but it would be just bad luck if somebody had business in there over the next couple of days.

Now the question was, was it smartest to set up here and sit tight until Lynn made her move, or attempt to find her base of operations? The problem was that once she set up the surveillance gear here, she couldn't really leave it unattended. If somebody walked in on her, it was not a disaster; she could overpower and restrain them and make a clean getaway. If somebody discovered her gear while she was out, they would call the cops and she might walk into an ambush coming back, which would be much more inconvenient. Well, she didn't need to decide that until she placed the cameras to cover the HenchCo building.

Shego walked up to her car, pulled out the bag that held the cameras and slung it on her shoulder. She took a leisurely stroll around the converted factory. She didn't make any effort to stay out of sight, as that would only make her look more suspicious if anyone were to see her. She set up wireless cameras to cover all of the entrances to the building, of which there were more than she would have thought.

The area was largely dead, but she saw one person searching through the vacant lots, apparently collecting empty bottles, and passed a shirtless, tattooed man walking a dog, who gave her an appreciative glance. He wasn't bad looking, really, but she had work to do. Besides, she preferred her men with more muscle and less hair. She'd never really gone for pretty boys; in her mind, pretty belonged on girls. She nearly managed to not think of Kim.

Shego decided to watch the building. Sunset was nearing, and given how little activity there was, Lynn could move in practically any time she wanted. Tonight was probably the best time for the burglary. Shego parked her stolen car in the middle of the parking lot next to her chosen base of operations. It was unlikely anyone would give it another thought. She slung the messenger bag with her surveillance equipment over her shoulder, picked up the duffel bag with her other gear and made her way to her chosen rooms.

She set up in the corner office. She moved the desk to the middle of the room and placed the laptop on it, dumping the rest of her things in the corner. She set the custom surveillance program to alert her if it detected movement in any of the camera feeds. She placed one chair in front of the desk, pulled out a trashy romance novel she'd picked up at a gas station, and sat down to wait for Lynn to show up.

Several hours later she was done with the novel and the remains of a Chinese takeaway she'd picked up earlier in the day. It wasn't the most appetizing meal eaten cold, but it still beat out the MREs in her duffel bag.

There had been no sign of Lynn. There had been no sign of anyone. She'd thought downtown Upperton was dull, but it was nothing compared to the remnants of the industrial section. Shego walked around the office to limber up, glancing at the HenchCo building. She could have looted the entire facility five times over by now. There were no witnesses anywhere, there was no reason to wait until the small hours of the morning. Maybe Lynn didn't realize that.

Luckily she had picked up more than one novel. She was done with the uncomfortable chair, though. She dug out her roll mat and sleeping bag, and arranged them in the corner of the room, out of sight from the windows and the door. She moved the laptop on the chair so she could still keep an eye on it, then stretched herself on top of the sleeping bag and moved on to the next novel. When Lynn finally showed up, she'd give her an extra kick for making her wait.

Two novels later there was still no sign of Lynn. It was nearly morning and Shego could barely keep her eyes open. She gave up for the night and went to sleep.

* * *

Shego woke up after noon. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and got up, though she didn't feel very well-rested. She'd slept in her catsuit to be ready for an emergency, and she felt sweaty and uncomfortable. She didn't particularly enjoy roughing it out, and resolved to make Lynn pay for that, too. She pulled down the zipper on her costume and rolled it down to her waist; it didn't help very much. She fished out a towel from her bag, went to the bathroom to wet it and wiped herself down. It made her feel a little better. Her hair was a mess, but there was little she could do about it.

She sat down on the toilet and stared aimlessly in front of her. Despite several hours of sleep, her mind felt tired and sluggish. She needed to decide what to do next, but it was hard to concentrate. She wanted to go back to sleep, but her stomach voted otherwise. Reluctantly she got up and zippered up her suit again. She almost caved in and went for her military rations, until she remembered the lunch cafeteria downstairs.

She emerged into the corridor wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt over her suit. She blinked her eyes under the glare of the fluorescent lights and made her way towards the stairs. She noticed one door along the corridor was propped open with a dump bin filled with hats and caps.

She peered through the door as she passed. Stands and racks holding various articles of clothing were placed around a large, mostly empty room. A bored-looking young woman was sitting at a desk that held a cash register and a card reader, playing with her phone. Another woman stood at one of the racks, looking at coats. It was a bizarre location for a second-hand clothing store, but that was none of her business.

Shego decided against the stairs. She called the elevator and pulled her hood up. The elevator had a camera, but it was very unlikely that anyone was looking at the footage, and even if they were, there was a valid reason for a customer to be on that floor. She made sure to keep her face hidden, anyway.

Shego walked in to the cafe, not attracting any undue attention. Two men passing her by checked her out, but that was to be expected. They didn't seem to recognize her as a wanted fugitive. The cafeteria food wasn't any worse than at the prison. The middle-aged man at the counter tried to chat her up, but she let him know she wasn't interested. She picked a table at the corner, facing away from the door and the counter. The lunch hour was mostly over, and there were only three people in addition to her. All three happened to be men, sitting by themselves. All paused to look at her as she passed.

As she sat down to eat her meal she pondered her next course of action. She had at least until sunset before Lynn's next window of opportunity at the HenchCo lab. This was the perfect time to try to track her down. The only question was whether to remove her things from the space she'd appropriated. She decided to trust her luck and leave them there, as trying to remove them with the building occupied might catch somebody's attention. She finished her meal, left the tray at the table, and walked out of the building.

* * *

"Joe's" was the fifth seedy bar on the cheap side of Upperton Shego visited. She'd had no luck in the previous ones. Really, with how down on their luck the working class people still clinging to Upperton's dying manufacturing industry were, she'd have expected to run into more shady types. All she had gotten for her troubles so far were unwelcome advances from objectionable losers. She hoped her luck was about to change as she spotted a familiar face at a corner booth.

"Rachel," Shego said as she sat across from a shabbily dressed woman with a red-dyed hair.

"Shego," the woman said, with little emotion on her weary face. "Wouldn't have expected to run into you here. And aren't you supposed to be in jail?"

"Just got out."

"Uh-huh. Did you want something?"

"Straight to the point, huh? Yeah, is there any work going on?"

"Nothing in your league," Rachel said and took a swig out of her mug.

"I'm kind of in between big jobs. I could do with some old-fashioned burglary, just to keep myself in shape."

"Sure."

"Come on, is there anything going on?"

"You're serious about slumming with us poor folks?"

"Sometimes a girl needs a vacation from take-over-the-world schemes and high-profile crime fighters."

"Well, okay. But really, city's where the money is."

"White-collar crime isn't my thing. I want something more hands-on."

"Well, there's a crew trying to put together a bank job."

"Then they're idiots. Anything else?"

"There's a new player recruiting. You might want to steer clear of her if you're looking to lay low, though. She's an honest-to-goodness celebrity."

"No shit?"

"Yeah, had herself a TV-show some years back. Not doing so hot now. Done some time."

"What's the job?"

"She wants to hit Hench's place. Payment on success. You'd have to be an idiot to go with that, and only idiots have. She'll be back inside in a week."

"Sounds like she could use a helping hand."

Rachel gave Shego a searching look. "Well, I suppose she's pretty."

"I didn't mean it like that. Haven't you heard I have a sideline in private tutoring? I managed to turn Senor Senior, Junior into a competent burglar."

"Well, he's pretty, too. But I hear he's not into girls."

"I don't think he's into anyone. Too much in love with himself." Shego felt confident in making that call; after all, the man hadn't given any attention to even her.

"Well, if you honestly want to give it a shot, I know where she's setting up."

"Tell me. I might sign on just to rub Jack's face in it."

* * *

The place was, predictably, a disused warehouse. Shego waited until sunset before she approached it. She cautiously entered through a skylight, dressed for work. She worked her way along the roof supports. There were no lights inside the warehouse, and once away from the windows she was completely hidden in the shadows. She listened intently and strained to see into the murk. She didn't perceive any indication of activity. That wasn't very surprising; the lack of lights already pointed to the place being empty. She traversed the length of the warehouse along the beams just in case.

The next question was whether she had the right place or not. She didn't think Rachel had any reason to lie to her, even if she suspected Shego had other reasons for seeking Lynn out than joining her merry band, but her information might not be correct. If this was the right place, the question became whether Lynn and her group had already vacated the premises, or were merely absent at the moment.

While Shego sat pondering, she detected motion on the floor below. A figure was cautiously moving along a row of boxes—and Shego had to wonder why warehouses not in use had so much stuff lying around—making very little noise and using no light. Shego cursed her stupidity: one reason for the lack of lights was that somebody had seen her approaching. She didn't think it was likely, but she couldn't think of another reason for somebody other than her skulking around than an attempted ambush.

Shego inched closer to the figure, still hidden in the shadowed ceiling. She tried to get a better look at the sneaking figure. It appeared to be short and slight. It wasn't conclusive, but it fit Lynn's figure. Shego stopped her progress as both she and the unknown person approached the lighter area below the skylights. Shego took a hard look at the figure and with a shock realized she recognized her.

It was Kim Possible. What the hell was she doing here?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kim woke up after not enough sleep. Grumbling, she got out of bed anyway. When the events of yesterday sprung back to her mind, she felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She was not looking forwards to seeing her mother. She considered skipping breakfast, but she'd need to face the music sooner or later. She put on slippers and resignedly made her way downstairs. Since she didn't have to dodge a stray rocket on exiting her room, she concluded her younger brothers were already at the breakfast table.

"Good morning, Kimmie-cub," Dr. Possible said from behind his newspaper. "How was the stakeout?"

Kim shot a look at her mother baking pancakes. Her expression was carefully neutral.

"Pretty much as expected, Dad," Kim said, sliding to her seat.

"You know, in my day young girls didn't spend their Friday nights in wait of criminals, they instead... well... actually, stakeouts are an excellent hobby for a young woman. Do you have a mission planned for the next weekend?"

Kim cast another quick glance at her mother. "Not yet. I'll have to see if I'll even have the time."

"Have some pancakes, Kim. If you have no plans, there's some chores I've been meaning to ask your help with."

"Sure. I'd be glad to help," Kim said, not managing to sound like she meant it. It didn't sound too bad, though. If she survived with just some extra chores, she'd be happy.

"Can you make her clean the lab?" Tim said.

"Someone has made a mess of it." Jim said.

"Boys, didn't I tell you that I wanted to use the lab this weekend?" Dr. Possible said.

"Uh-oh, I just remembered we promised to..." Jim said.

"Meet Tommy this morning," Tim said.

"Got to go," the twins chorused and bolted from their seats, leaving their plates on the table.

The rest of the breakfast passed in silence. Kim asked to be excused, put her and her brothers' plates in the sink and escaped up to her room. She dressed up in casual clothes, since she apparently wasn't going anywhere today. Then she remembered that Wade had tried to contact her and retrieved her Kimmunicator.

"Hi, Wade," Kim greeted the younger teen who looked like he had been installed in front of his computer desk for some time already. Then again, Wade always looked like that.

"Hi, Kim. Where were you all weekend?"

"Busy. Was there something urgent?"

"Kinda. Shego broke out yesterday."

"Oh. Well, it's a little sooner than usual, but well within her window. Is Drakken still in?"

"As far as I know. You don't seem too concerned about this."

"Shego always escapes. If she follows the usual pattern, she'll lay low for a couple of weeks and then break Drakken out. Then they'll start their next plot and it becomes my problem."

"Shouldn't we do something about that? You know, before that happens."

"Wade, we're not law enforcement. I'm just a high-school girl who likes to help people out. I'll get involved when somebody leaves a request at the site."

"If you say so. There was another matter, though. Adrena Lynn was released on parole on Thursday."

"You're going to have to remind me."

"Adrena Lynn, the Extreme Teen? She had a reality show until you exposed her for a fraud."

"Oh, right, her. That wasn't me, though, that was Ron."

"She certainly blamed you for it."

"People have a tendency to forget Ron. How's she out already? She kidnapped Brick and tried to kill him."

"First time offender, and time off for good behavior."

"Swell. I'm not sure why you're telling me about it, though. She's not exactly a major threat."

"Kim, she wanted revenge on you for ruining her career. How do you think she'll feel about you putting her in jail?"

"If she's dumb enough to come after me, I'll be happy to send her back in."

"What if she doesn't come after you? What if she tries to kidnap someone close to you again?"

"I guess you have a point. Are you keeping an eye out for her?"

"I'm trying."

"Thanks. Keep me posted."

"Will do. Bye, Kim."

"Bye."

Kim put the Kimmunicator away and tried to decide what to do. She felt restless, but didn't think her mother would let her out of the house. She should call Ron, but thinking about him made her feel guilty. She decided to call him later; it being a Sunday morning Ron was probably still asleep, anyway.

Kim glanced at the homework on her desk. She'd tried to get it all done early in the week so she wouldn't have to worry about it during the weekend, but one thing after another had taken up her free time. She settled down to finish her homework. Acting responsibly alleviated the vague feeling of guilt.

She was done with homework and was trying to concentrate on a novel when her phone rang. It was Ron.

"How's my best girl?"

"Ron, what's up?"

"That's what I want to know. Where were you all weekend? I missed you."

"Something came up. You know how it is."

"You're not seeing someone else, are you?"

"Ron, I'm not seeing anyone. I though we agreed we're not going steady."

"Kim, I know you're the one for me. I though you felt that way, too."

"It's just all so sudden, Ron. I want to take things easy."

"Does that mean you don't love me?"

"Ron, I do love you. You've been my best friend for ever. It's just weird to think of you as someone to date."

"You didn't seem to have any trouble with it at the prom."

Over the summer Kim had become increasingly sure her throwing herself in Ron's arms at the prom had been a rebound from Eric. She didn't know how to explain it to Ron, though. She knew that Ron had a thing for her: he'd confesses that he'd crushed on her for a good time. She felt guilty she had never noticed it, or felt the same. She felt guilty leading Ron on even though she was becoming pretty sure she never would love Ron like he loved her. She knew he'd be devastated if she called their thing off, and then she'd feel guilty about hurting him. She didn't see any good alternatives.

Then there was the fact she was getting surer that she was actually gay. She didn't recall ever desiring a guy the way she desired Shego. She'd certainly never felt that way about Ron. Ron was nice, and she enjoyed spending time with him, but he didn't arouse any great passion in her.

"Hello? KP, are you still there?"

"Yeah, Ron."

"You want to get together today? We could hang in the tree house."

Kim suspected that Ron was suggesting a make-out session. She enjoyed kissing, didn't she? Ron was nowhere as good a kisser as Shego, but Kim supposed she could teach him. She tried to picture kissing Ron, but images of Shego interfered. After her encounter with the enticing villain an evening with Ron just didn't appeal to her. There was also the implied grounding, and messing around with Ron probably wasn't on the list of approved activities.

"I'm kinda busy today. Some other day, okay?"

"Oh, okay. Uh, see you in school?"

"Yeah. Bye, Ron."

"Bye, KP."

The phone call didn't make Kim feel any less guilty. She needed to straighten things out with Ron someday soon. She thought she loved Ron. Ron was her oldest friend, and they had so many shared experiences. Kim suspected that was a much better basis for a relationship than the kind of hormone-driven crush she had on Shego.

Perhaps there wasn't the same kind of passion, even on Ron's part, but that didn't mean a physical intimacy couldn't grow between them. There was so much she could teach Ron. Well, maybe; she didn't have any experience with boys. She wondered what it would be like to have someone inside her. Kim tried to picture how Ron would react if she offered to sleep with him and smiled at the image. She didn't find Ron sexy, but the thought of taking their relationship to another level was exciting in its own right. Her hand started sneaking inside her pants.

The thoughts of sex reminded Kim of the possible consequences of her recklessness, and the sense of guilt returned. She logged on her computer and reluctantly read about sexually transmitted infections, specifically if they were a danger in lesbian sex. She found out to her dismay that while many diseases were unlikely to be transmitted from woman to woman, especially if toys were not used and shared, some infections were just as likely as with heterosexual couples.

She moved on to research how lesbians practiced safe sex and learned about using vinyl gloves, dental dams and the ever useful condoms. It had never occurred to her that two women might need condoms. She also didn't recall hearing of any of that in her Sex Ed classes. Of course, Barkin, who had been forced to substitute for a teacher absent for undisclosed medical reasons, hadn't seemed very comfortable teaching the class in the first place. He might well have skipped some of the topics.

She carefully erased her search history and cleared the cache of her browser. Her brothers were nosy and had no respect for her privacy, and this was one area of her life they definitely didn't need to learn about. They were too young to hear about sex, anyway.

She logged off the computer and sat at her desk for a moment, fidgeting. She didn't know what to do with herself. It was an unusual feeling; she always had something to do. With the shadow of not-quite-grounding hanging over her, she was uncertain of how much freedom of movement she had.

She went to her mother to ask for a chore, figuring the sooner she did her penance, the sooner her mother would let her off the hook. She regretted that choice when she made her clean her brothers' mess in the basement lab, but by then it was too late.

* * *

Kim lay in her bed, tossing and turning. She felt too restless to sleep. She was used to being more active, and being cooped up all day hadn't let her burn off enough energy, chores or no chores. That wasn't the only problem. Her bed felt empty in a way it never had before. She turned to lay on her stomach and hugged her pillow. She wished it was Shego, instead. She wanted to hold her, kiss her, make love to her.

"Oh, Shego," Kim whispered. She kissed her pillow, moaning a little into it.

Almost by itself, Kim's body began to grind against the mattress, the way she'd pleasured herself before she'd learned to use her fingers. She continued to kiss and fondle her pillow, imagining it to be Shego. The taste of wet fabric had nothing on Shego's lips. She pressed her pelvis hard against the yielding surface in accordance to the demands of the insistent throbbing between her legs.

She thought she heard a noise and froze. She had no door on her room, and seeking relief always carried a risk of discovery. The possibility was mortifying, but not enough to dissuade her from the practice. The danger also gave the activity a certain increased allure from being something naughty and forbidden.

She listened, holding her breath, her heart hammering. She couldn't hear anything, which was good, because she was past the point of no return. Even though she had stopped moving, the sensation in her loins didn't abate, but rather mounted with every heartbeat. She was so close. She slipped one hand inside her pajamas and bit down on the pillow as she found release.

Tension relieved, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Monday morning found Kim at the high school. She opened her locker and Wade greeted her from the screen of the computer built into it.

"Morning, Kim."

"Morning, Wade. Any updates?"

"I might have caught a glimpse of Adrena Lynn from a security camera in Upperton. I'll try to verify and narrow it down."

"Upperton? I think you were right about her coming after me."

"I'd like to say 'aren't I always', but I'll wait until I get it confirmed."

"I'm sure you will. Anything else?"

"There are some hits on the site. Do you want to hear them?"

"If no-one's life is in danger, maybe we ought to focus on Lynn for the while." She didn't want to test whether her mother would let her do missions just yet.

"Sounds sensible. I'll be in touch once I have better info."

"Thanks, Wade. You rock, as always."

Kim closed the door and saw Ron leaning against the locker next to hers. Ron had been her best friend for as long as she remembered. They were maybe sort of dating. Why did the sight of him bring on this empty feeling in the pit of her stomach?

"Morning, pretty lady," Ron said. Kim forced out a chuckle.

"Morning, Ron. You're in fine form."

"Well, it seems somebody needs to be reminded of what Ron-Man has to offer, boyfriend-wise."

"Is it a coupon book?" Kim regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Ron was trying; she shouldn't be mean. Maybe Shego was rubbing off on her. There had certainly been a lot of rubbing involved. Kim blushed at her naughty thoughts.

"It's not just a coupon book," Ron said. "There's also my suave charm."

Ron visibly preened. Kim realized he probably thought her blush was a response to his attempted gallantry. She really needed to straighten things out, sooner rather than later. She just didn't want to do it right now, and was happy when they had to separate and head off to their respective classes.

Kim had trouble concentrating on the lesson. She had a lot on her mind, and it didn't help the class was held by Barkin on account of their regular teacher being on personal leave. Her gaze wandered around the class. There weren't any boys in the class she considered cute; there were a couple of girls. Did that mean anything? She'd certainly had crushes on boys in the past. Sure, she'd lost interest in Josh after a couple of dates, but she had wanted those dates.

A traitorous part of her suggested she had been more interested in just dating somebody, especially somebody Bonnie was interested in, than in the boy himself. That had almost certainly been her sole interest in Bobby Johnson. Knowing what she did about Bonnie made her wonder if the brunette had actually been interested in either one, or if she had just thought dating them would boost her popularity. Her on-again-off-again relationship with Brick seemed to be entirely for show.

Was there any boy she had been unambiguously interested in? Her mind summoned up a picture of Hirotaka, the Japanese exchange student who had briefly attended Middleton High. Oh, yes, she'd definitely been totally into him. Initially her interest was based on him being new, exciting and cute, but there was more: his exotic good looks, his lovely black hair, his lean but powerful body, his confident, even cocky attitude, his fighting skills.

Kim frowned. Listing Hirotaka's attractive attributes like that made him sound rather like Shego. Maybe she had a type, and maybe it wasn't limited to just boys or just girls. That made it even more important to decide whether she wanted to pursue Shego or make Ron happy. Kim slumped over her desk, burying her head in her arms. Things were much more simple when she was on a mission.

"Miss Possible," Barkin said, "perhaps you would like to work out the example on the board."

Kim sighed. Missions were definitely easier.

* * *

At lunch break Kim sat down next to Monique, as usual. Ron hadn't made it in yet, so they had a few moments to talk in peace. Kim didn't know what to say, though. She wanted someone to confide in and Monique was her best girlfriend, but the thing with Shego was so big she wasn't sure she was ready to share it; and the school cafeteria was definitely not the right place for the discussion.

Kim looked at Monique, really looked at her. She was a very attractive girl, but she didn't feel attracted to her. She was probably too used to considering her as a friend. She wondered if that was also the case with Ron and the reason dating him didn't really feel like dating. She recalled how exited she had been when she and Monique first met and became friends. With the benefit of hindsight she wondered if her little girl crush hadn't, in fact, been a crush crush. She wondered if Monique would be up for a little experimentation and then wondered what was wrong with her.

They talked about clothes for a while. Monique was Kim's primary reference for the hottest outfits coming from Club Banana, but the state of her bank account left the conversation somewhat on the theoretical side. When Ron joined them at the table the discussion somehow veered towards wrestling. Kim was happy enough to be left out of the conversation.

Somehow Kim made it through the day. She had cheer practice after classes, and Bonnie insisting on changes in the routine made the session awkward, but she persevered. After practice she went straight home. She figured she'd better toe the line until her mother let her know she was in the clear. However, her day was not quite done.

* * *

"Mom," Kim said, walking into the living room with her Kimmunicator. "I need to go to Upperton for a mission." Dr. Possible lifted her eyebrow at Kim.

"Here," Kim said, handing her the Kimmunicator. She took it, looking puzzled.

"Uh, good evening, Wade."

"Hi, Dr. Possible. There's a situation that requires Kim's attention. Do you remember Adrena Lynn?"

"Was she that young woman with the stunt show Jim and Tim emulated?"

"That's her. She was released on parole last Thursday."

"Last Thursday..?" Dr. Possible eyebrows rose and she directed a sharp, somewhat surprised glance at Kim. With a shock, Kim suddenly guessed where her mother's thoughts had gone.

"What? Mom, I sent her to jail when she tried to get revenge for Ron exposing her as a fraud! We think she might come after me again. Wade spotted her associating with some shady people at an old warehouse."

"Have you called the police?"

"We think it would be best if Kim got some evidence of her breaking her parole, first." Kim noted he tactfully declined to elaborate on why his surveillance footage wouldn't be admissible in court.

"Then I can just take it to the police and let them handle her. She's not major league. With any luck I'll be back in time for dinner," Kim said.

"Will you be taking Ron?"

Kim tried to guess whether taking Ron would reassure her mother or if she'd be worried about what the two of them might get up to unsupervised.

"Uh, I thought I wouldn't. This is just reconnaissance. Ron has many wonderful qualities, but, well..."

"Subtlety is not one of them. I understand. Are you sure you will be okay on your own?"

"Of course. I'm not looking to start trouble. I'll be in and out of Upperton in no time. It's no big."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Kim jumped back on instinct when a shadowy figure dropped down in front of her. It was dark in the warehouse, but she would have recognized the shapely silhouette anywhere.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kim?" Shego said.

"Shego!" Kim brought her hands up to a defensive position and eyed the villainess with suspicion and a certain amount of desire. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"That's none of your damn business. Why are you following me? Had a change of heart about letting me go?"

"I'm not following you. Are you working with Adrena Lynn?" Even though they hadn't made any promises beyond truce for their rendezvous, Kim couldn't help feeling hurt. "Are you just going to stab me in the back right after I helped you out?"

"The way I figure I already settled my debt for your little favor. I distinctly remember scratching your back," Shego said, causing Kim's cheeks to heat up.

"And no, I am not working with that little bitch. I'm just going to teach her a little something about limits. She's after something that I regard as my rightful property, and she damn well better learn to keep her hands off it."

Kim's jaw dropped, and she experienced a very curious mix of emotions. On one hand, Shego being protective of her sent a very pleasant thrill through her. On the other hand, it was awfully presumptuous of her to think of her as property.

"I can protect myself, you know," Kim said, trying to sound indignant.

"What?" Shego said. She looked at Kim with eyes wide in confusion. Then she snorted. "Wait, you thought I was talking about you?"

Shego laughed at her. It was a mocking laughter Kim was all too familiar with, though she hadn't heard it much over the last few months. She had trouble breathing and her heart constricted. This was how her nightmares went, with Shego callously rebuffing her advances and mercilessly mocking her when she'd left herself vulnerable.

"Kim, look, I'm sorry." Kim's eyes shot up to Shego's face. It was hard to read her expression in the dark, but the woman looked uncertain, embarrassed. "I didn't meant to laugh at you. I said I wouldn't use this as a weapon against you and I meant it. But you've got to admit it's funny, you thinking I'm your knight in shining armor."

Kim didn't really see the humor in it. Anger rose in her, but it was directed against herself. She should not have let her fantasies get the better of her. Shego had just wanted a night of fun; she wasn't secretly in love with her.

"Can we forget I said that?" Kim said, embarrassed, but once again in control of herself.

"Sure," Shego said. "Wait, no, we can't. Why do you think she's after you?"

"Revenge, duh. I put her in jail."

"You put me in jail, too, Pumpkin. I never come after you for revenge," Shego said. "Rematch, maybe, but not revenge."

"The reason I put her in jail was because she wanted revenge for her ruined career. I figure she might be at least as ticked off by jail time."

"Hm. Maybe." Shego looked thoughtful. "Tell you what. Once I'm done with her I'll bundle her up for the police to pick up."

"You'd do that?"

"Sure, why not? I'll be happy to see the last of her. I'm pretty sure she's violated her parole already, and I can make sure there's evidence."

"So what is she after that's got you tweaked?"

"None of your business, Kimmie. It's personal. You run along home now, I've got this handled." Shego made shooing gestures with her hands.

"I can't just let you assault her, Shego," Kim said. "Look, we have common interest in her. Maybe we could, you know, work together on this?"

It seemed a very sensible solution to Kim. If it meant she needed to spend some more time around Shego she was more than willing to make that sacrifice. Getting her mother to let her stay in Upperton longer than planned might take some effort, though.

"Uh-uh. Nah-ah. No way."

"Fine. But I'm here to find evidence of Lynn breaking her parole, and I will."

Kim felt like herself again. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and turned it on, taking care to angle the camera away from Shego. Wade answered right away, and Kim wondered if he ever moved away from his computers.

"What do you need, Kim?"

"Wade, Lynn has cleared out. There are some fresh tire tracks here. Can you get a read on them?"

"Point the cameras at the tracks, Kim," Wade said.

Kim found the spot by the doors where the tracks she'd noticed outside had to terminate. Wade's fingers flew on keyboards as he remotely calibrated the on-board sensors. A false-color image on the Kimmunicator's screen highlighted the tracks in the dark warehouse.

"Got it, Kim. Looks like a van."

"Tweebs added a new sensor suite to my car, do you think I could use it to track the van?"

"Maybe. Plug the Kimmunicator in and I'll see what they've installed."

"Fine," Shego said from behind Kim.

"Never mind, Wade, I've got a lead," Kim said. "I'll call you back later." She looked at Shego expectantly.

"I know where she's going. If it's that damned important to you, you can come with me. We get some footage of her breaking her parole, I rough her up..." Shego paused as Kim glared at her. "I scare her a little, you send her back to jail. Everybody gets what they want."

"Except Adrena Lynn," Kim said. "She gets what she deserves."

* * *

Kim followed Shego's car to a parking lot by a red brick building. It was one of the new commercial buildings popping up in the formerly industrial area. Despite the ongoing construction work on a couple of surrounding lots and some obviously new apartment buildings, the area was somehow even deader than the rest of Upperton.

Shego's car was suspiciously similar to a car that had been parked in front of the motel when they'd arrived there, though the plates didn't match. Kim activated a camera and zoomed in on the license plate. In the glare of her headlights it was easy to tell the plate had been changed. Kim fought down a feeling of guilt. It was too late for it now, she'd known Shego would most likely steal a car when they'd parted ways.

Shego parked the stolen car near the middle of the empty lot. Kim parked her Roth near the edge. She grabbed her backpack and got out of the car. Shego walked up to her.

"That thing is too conspicuous, Kimmie. We need to put it somewhere out of the view," Shego said.

"No big, I've got it covered."

Kim pulled out the car key again, and pressed a button on the fob. The vintage car changed color from bright purple to dull brown.

"It's still noticeable. I didn't know any of those abominations were still in circulation."

"Don't insult my car, Shego. Now, where do we find Lynn?"

"Follow me," Shego said and started walking towards the nearest building.

Kim followed, her eyes straying to Shego's shapely backside. She felt a sharp yearning in her chest and in her loins. It wasn't anything new. Keeping her cool when facing Shego had become harder and harder over the past few months. She wondered how many of her recent captures were the result of her desire to feel Shego's hands on her overriding her better sense. She'd hoped that finally scratching that itch would have helped her get over it. In fact it had only made things worse, with memories replacing fantasies in the picture reel that started playing whenever she thought of Shego.

Shego led her to a side door and held it open for her. They walked through a dark storage space using the Kimmunicator as a flashlight and emerged to an empty, lit corridor. Shego directed Kim to the stairwell.

"Couldn't we have taken the elevator?" Kim said.

"It's got a camera in it. Plus I'm not even sure if it's in use at this hour."

Kim was not thrilled to be reminded that they were breaking and entering. She consoled herself with the fact that the building was basically a public space.

"It probably is. I don't think the cleaners want to cart their equipment by the stairs," she said. Shego probably knew that, anyway, but she wanted to make conversation.

"Speaking of which, less noise would be nice, Kimmie."

"Sorry," Kim said, voice low. "I'm not used to being a burglar."

"It's only burglary if we steal something. This barely counts as trespassing."

"So why are we skulking around then?"

"Escaped convict, remember? Well, you probably do, seeing how you were my getaway driver."

It was a less than subtle reminder that Kim wasn't in the best position to protest against illegalities right now. Kim had to wonder why she was letting Shego drag her even deeper into questionable activities. Oh, right; hormones.

They reached the top floor and Shego carefully cracked open the stairwell door and peered into the long corridor. The coast was clear, and they walked the length of the corridor to a door at the other end. Shego picked it open. Kim swallowed her protest. It would be silly to complain after coming this far.

"You know, you take quite naturally to burglary," Shego said and led Kim inside.

"As you pointed out, it's not burglary since I don't intend to commit a crime. It's criminal trespass."

"That's still a misdemeanor, right?"

"Since the door was locked, yeah. I think. Why are we even discussing this?"

"Because your guilty conscience is nagging at you about the consequences if you get caught," Shego said. "Anyway, I intend to commit a crime."

"What crime?" Kim said.

"Illegal surveillance. We want to catch Lynn in action, right?"

"It's not illegal if we record her in a public location. And if it was illegal I couldn't take it to the police, anyway. Don't you even know what's legal and what's not?"

"Eh, I don't stress about it. I have sentences for more than my natural life, so I kind of crossed the Rubicon on that a while ago. As long as it's not a capital crime I don't really care."

"What a wonderful attitude you have."

"Bad girls have more fun, Kimmie. You should try it someday."

Kim reflected that she arguably had tried it over the past few days. She wasn't sure the thrills were worth the guilt. Then she remembered the sensation of Shego's naked body against hers and concluded that yes, yes they were. She also realized that she was getting more than a little aroused.

Kim looked around the room Shego had led them in. It was a corner office, with windows on two sides. There was a table in the middle of it, and Shego was setting up a laptop on it. There was a dark shape in the corner. Taking a couple of steps closer, Kim recognized it as a sleeping bag on a roll mat, with a duffel bag lying on it. Clearly Shego had been here a while.

"Right," Shego said, catching Kim's attention, and pointed at an old factory building visible from the window. "That building over there is one of Jack Hench's R&D labs. Lynn is going to hit it sooner or later. I'd hoped to catch up to her before she did, but my lead proved a dud."

"How do you know that? And if that's where she's going, why are we up here?"

"I have my sources. We're here because I don't know when she's going to show up, and I don't want to sit in a cramped car for hours or days. It tends to draw attention, too."

Shego pointed to the laptop she'd set up. Number of windows on the screen showed scenes Kim recognized as entrances to the factory.

"I have cameras set up to cover all the likely entrances. All we need to do is sit tight until the bitch shows up."

"Can you please not use that word?"

"No."

Kim decided to let it go. "What about unlikely entrances?"

"Well, if she's going to blow up a wall, I figure we'll see it from here."

"Why are you helping Jack Hench? I got the impression he and Dr. Drakken didn't really get along."

"This has nothing to do with Dr. D, and I'm not helping Hench. I'll kick his ass after we deal with Lynn. Teach the bastard not to mess with things that don't concern him."

"This would be the personal matter?"

"Yup. No need to bother your pretty little head with it."

"When do you think they'll move?"

"I'm not even sure it's tonight. I think they're done for the day," Shego said, nodding towards the R&D building, "so there's no reason Lynn couldn't hit it now. There's not many witnesses around here. But she'll probably wait until after midnight just to piss me off."

"So we could be waiting up for hours?"

"And possibly for nothing. Do you have any ideas to pass the time?"

Kim put on her best coquettish look and glanced towards the sleeping bag in the corner.

"No, Kimmie. That was a one-time thing. We're not going to make a habit of it."

"Oh, come on, Shego. I know you enjoyed it," Kim said and stepped closer to the thief. "You'll enjoy it this time, too."

"This is serious, Kim. I'm not going to mix business and pleasure."

"Since when?" Kim asked. She slowly and deliberately batted her eyes at Shego.

"I'm not sleeping with you, and that's final."

* * *

Kim lay on the open sleeping bag, her naked body pressed against Shego's. They weren't quite cuddling; Shego had made it clear she wouldn't countenance it. However, there was only so much room on the bag, and with their legs tucked into it for warmth they couldn't put much distance between them if they tried. With sweat cooling on her skin, Kim shivered. She burrowed closer into Shego's side, and to her surprise Shego wrapped an arm around her. She sighed contentedly.

"You're an evil seductress, Kimmie," Shego said.

"I heard bad girls have more fun," Kim said. Shego laughed, and this time it sounded friendly.

"This still won't change anything. I'm going to kick your ass the next time you come after Dr. D. And this was definitely the last time."

"Of course," Kim pleasantly agreed. Then her mood soured as an annoying thought wormed its way into her consciousness. "Shego. Um. Is there... do you have any, you know..."

"Yes, Kimmie?"

"Do you have any STIs I should worry about?" Kim rushed the question out.

"Kimmie, that's the kind of thing you should ask before you sleep with someone."

"I know, but it's just that... I didn't know how..."

"You know, this is why it isn't really the bad girls like me that are the problem. I have casual sex, but I take precautions. It's nice girls like you who can't bring up the topic for fear of ruining the romance that are the problem."

"You didn't really worry with me."

"Well, I figured the chances of me catching something from you weren't very high. And I'd just escaped from prison. It's not like I was equipped."

"How do you, you know, usually protect yourself with another girl?"

"Okay, fine, you got me. I mostly don't. I'm not nearly as careful with girls as I am with guys. If you're going to make a habit of lesbian hook-ups, you definitely should use protection."

"I wasn't really planning on it." Kim was silent for a moment, resting her head on Shego's shoulder. "You didn't say if you had anything."

"I think I'm clean," Shego said. "I'll, uh, I'll get tested and let you know, okay?" Both women fell silent, lost in thought.

"I'm guessing you didn't use any protection with your previous partners, either," Shego said. "Should I be worried?"

"No. I've only had one other partner and it was the first for both of us."

"You know, I'm happy your first time was with someone other than me," Shego said.

"You didn't want to take my virginity?"

"That's a guy thing, Kimmie. I don't really get it; I prefer my partners to know their way around."

"Was I..." Kim started to say.

"You were fine, Kimmie. It's how I knew you had some experience," Shego said, hugging Kim with the arm around her. "But you are going to remember your first time. If it's bad, it can color your view of sex for a long time. All girls deserve a great first experience, with someone special."

Kim gave a short bitter laugh. Shego didn't say anything, but the question hung in the air. Kim wasn't sure if this was something she wanted to tell Shego about, but she'd promised not to use their affair against her, and that probably extended to pillow talk confessions. Then there was the fact that Kim didn't really have anyone else to share these things with.

"My first time," she said, then paused to gather her thoughts. "There's this girl on the squad—the cheerleading squad."

"I got it, Kimmie."

"We don't really get along that well, we're pretty much rivals, but she's the hottest girl on the squad."

"A shapely brunette, great legs, a bit of a bitch?"

"You know her?" Kim said, eyes opening with astonishment.

"Nah, I was just wondering if you had a type."

"I so do not have a type."

"That's not what it sounds like to me."

"Anyway," Kim said, deciding to ignore Shego, "we kind of caught each other looking. I'm sure she would have loved to announce to the school I was checking out other girls in the showers, but she couldn't because I'd seen her do it too."

"Mutually assured destruction, huh?"

"Whatever. Anyway, we kind of warily watched each other for a while to see if the other was going to make and issue of it, but neither of us did."

"Okay, then what happened?"

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be a closeted lesbian in high school?"

"Can't say I do. I didn't discover girls until college. It wasn't a big deal there."

"You went to college?"

"Why do you sound so astonished? You don't think I'm smart enough?"

"No, it's just I can't really picture it. You're a mercenary and a thief. What did you major in?"

"It's not like I decided on that on a high school career day. I was still a hero when I started college. Can we get back to your torrid lesbian affair?"

"Well, that's just it. I didn't know any lesbians in my school. I'm sure there were some, but I didn't know who. It's not like I could just start asking. I didn't want to out myself, so I didn't have anyone to talk things over with."

"Other that your rival on the squad."

"Exactly. She was in the same boat, so we eventually started talking about it. You know, comparing experiences and so on."

"And one thing lead to another, like they so often do between hormonal teenagers."

"Well, she is really hot," Kim said, blushing. "We didn't really hang together in school, but we were practically inseparable the summer after the sophomore year. We hung at the mall, went shopping together, went to movies, theater, ballet..."

"And screwed like rabbits every chance you got."

"It was a really fun summer," Kim said. She was blushing even harder now, but couldn't keep the grin from her face.

"Sounds to me like a pretty successful high school romance. What happened?"

"The junior year started. I went back to school and she acted like the summer hadn't even happened. It was just like before we got together. She'd hang around with her clique and put me down whenever I happened by. She'd always been obsessed with the whole high school food chain thing, but I'd though she'd acknowledge that things had changed between us. It really hurt."

"Did you talk to her about it?"

"No. We never even really broke up. We just... stopped." Well, they'd mostly stopped. "I know this is going to sound horrible, but I'm not sure we ever even liked each other. I'm not sure we had anything but teenage lust."

They lay together in silence. Kim wondered what Shego was thinking. She hadn't held her like this the last time. Did that mean she was warming to her? Laying there beside the alluring woman, Kim knew that this was what she wanted. How could she ever settle for Ron, if she had a chance with Shego?

* * *

"Get your clothes on, Kimmie. It's go time," Shego said, interrupting Kim's thoughts. "I can't believe I said that," she added more quietly.

Kim sat up and glanced at the laptop. One of the windows showed a van pulling to a stop by the building. From the corner of her eye she noticed Shego was already up and searching for her underwear. She noted her naked body only in passing, her mind already in mission mode.

"Are you sure it's her?" Kim asked as she pulled her panties on.

"She's stepping out of the van right now, no mask. Looks like four guys with her," Shego said, adjusting her sports bra.

"Do we take the gear with us or leave it here?"

"Will you give me a head start when you hand her over to the cops?"

"I might forget to mention you at all."

"Then I can come back for it." Shego was already pulling her catsuit on. Kim committed the sight of her bent over posture to memory, to be savored later.

"Come on, slowpoke," Shego said, pulling the zipper on her suit closed and turning for the door.

"Wait," Kim said as she pulled her shirt over her head. She was annoyed that Shego was dressed before her. "Do you think those windows open?"

"We're five stories up, Kimmie."

Kim gestured towards her hairdryer grappling hook. "I have enough wire for that."

"Well, it would save time," Shego said and stepped to the windows, searching for a way to open them. "You should have brought that up sooner, we could have prepared for it."

"Sorry, moment's inspiration."

There was a key lying on the windowsill that opened the larger windows. It took them a little over a minute to get one open. Cold night air rushed in. Kim slipped out the window, hooking the grapple on the windowsill and hanging off, both hands on her grapple gun and legs braced against the wall. Shego maneuvered out of the window and climbed on Kim's back, wrapping her arms and legs around Kim.

"You just wanted me close to you, didn't you?"

"Hang on. I'm pretty sure this will work," Kim said. She freed the spool and engaged the mechanism for retracting the cable. She knew the electric motor wasn't strong enough to reel the cable against their combined weight, but was fairly confident it would slow their descent to a survivable speed. She was almost as confident that the strain wouldn't burn it out.

"What do you mean 'pretty sure'? Eep!"

The descent was a little more rapid than Kim had expected. Luckily they were both used to rough landings. Shego disengaged before they hit the ground and both tucked into a roll to kill the momentum. Kim stood up, shook herself off and snatched up the hairdryer gun. A click of a button sent a signal for the grapple to fold up, and Kim stood from under the falling weight as the cable spooled up.

"Why did I listen to you?" Shego said.

"Don't be such a baby," Kim said. "They left a lookout in the van. How do we deal with him?"

"Up on to the roof of the adjacent warehouse, drop down next to the door, I punch his lights out."

"Well, let's get to it."

The lookout was startled when Shego dropped down on the roof of the van. That turned to alarm when a glowing green fist smashed through the window on the door. Shego grabbed the cellphone the thug had been holding and crushed it. Then he opened the door and yanked the man out, none too gently.

"You know," Shego said in a conversational tone, "you should have got walkie-talkies. Texting is just too slow when you need to warn your buddies at a moment's notice." The criminal looked confused.

"I don't think he was texting the others," Kim said, then turned to the hapless lookout. "You were playing a game, weren't you?" The man looked down, visibly ashamed.

Shego closed her eyes, looking pained. "Can I knock him out now?"

"Not yet," Kim said. She pulled the unresisting man's wrists together behind his back and tied them together with a zip-tie. "Give us a breakdown on the crew and the plan."

"I'm not telling you anything," the man said, trying to rally his courage.

"See," Shego said, "that's the wrong answer. It's the kind of answer that gets you hurt."

"She won't let you hurt me," the man said, but didn't seem too sure about it.

"Don't worry," Kim said sweetly, "I'll step in if she gets too rough. She probably won't have time to break very many of your bones." She knew she should feel guilty about this, but there was something very satisfying in the way the man was cowering.

"There's two guys for locks and alarms, one guy for muscle," he said. "I'm the driver. Lynn's after something specific in one of the labs, we get to keep everything else we find."

"Thank you," Kim said.

"Wait, I have a question," Shego said. She stepped up right to the man's face. "Why the hell didn't you hit the place yesterday?"

"We, uh, didn't have all the gear together, and all the stores were closed on Sunday."

Shego stared at the man, her eyes wide open. She opened her mouth, then closed it, spun on her heel and stalked towards the entrance to Hench's facility. Kim led the unresisting captive to a street sign, secured him to it, and duct taped his mouth shut.

"You just sit tight, okay?" Kim said before hurrying after Shego.

Kim opened the exterior door and found herself in a mostly featureless, white-washed corridor. She moved cautiously onwards, peeking around the corner. She saw another corridor, but this one had a number of doors opening to it. One was ajar. She sneaked up to it and looked through. Behind it was a long and narrow room equipped with a number of workbenches along one side. At the end was another door, and lying next to it was an immobile man in dark clothing. Kim quietly ran to the man and ascertained that he was still breathing.

Beyond the door was a square room furnished with some tables, chairs, a water dispenser and a large potted plant, with doors on all walls. Shego was engaged in combat with two men, her fists engulfed in green glow. One of the men, a notably tall and broad-shouldered one, was keeping Shego at a distance by swinging a baseball bat in wide arcs. The smaller man, armed with a stun baton, was attempting to circle behind her, but Shego was maneuvering to prevent it. Kim moved to assist her.

"I've got this, Kimmie! Go stop Lynn," Shego said, taking a moment to gesture towards an open heavy-duty door.

Kim thought Shego might not mind a little assist, and tripped up the man with the baton in passing as she dashed for the door. She emerged in what looked like a small storage room, walls lined with metal cabinets. Lynn was digging in one across the room. Kim wasted little time sprinting towards the blonde, only to be brought up short when Lynn whirled around with a strange-looking weapon in her hands.

"Too late, Kim Possible," Lynn said with a triumphant leer. She then pointed the weapon at herself.

Momentarily frozen in surprise, Kim noticed a green flash from the corner of her eye. Time seemed to move in slow motion as one of Shego's bolts struck the weapon in Lynn's hands, but there was nothing she could do as the device exploded. Kim's world was engulfed by an orange blaze.

* * *

Kim came to and tried to blink yellow-orange flashes from her eyes. She was reclining against a cold brick wall, not very comfortably. She realized Shego was kneeling before her, one hand resting on her shoulder. For a moment, with her vision blurry, she thought the strange expression on Shego's face was worry.

"Are you okay, Kim?" Shego said.

"Yeah... I think so," Kim said, taking stock of her aching body. "I don't think anything's broken. What happened?"

Before Shego could answer, there came a voice from behind her.

"Freaky," Adrena Lynn said. Leaning to the side to peer behind Shego, Kim saw Lynn staring at her hands with an expression that was a curious mix of fascination and manic glee.

Her hands were glowing bright orange.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Shego turned around to follow Kim's gaze towards Lynn's voice. Her blood went cold at the sight of the orange Glow surrounding her hands; cold, and then boiling hot. She let out an inarticulate scream of rage as her hands ignited with her green Glow. She rushed Lynn, who turned to flee in alarm.

"No! You won't get away with this, Lynn."

Shego lunged at Lynn, who dodged out of the way. She was more agile than Shego had expected, but then, she had made a living doing extreme stunts, and not all of them had been faked. Lynn bolted through the doorway and Shego ran after her.

The young woman was fast on her feet, but Shego caught up with her in the long workshop. She sent a bolt at Lynn with another angry yell. The woman turned at the sound and managed to dodge the bolt at the last moment. Lynn stretched her arms towards Shego, who tensed. She had no idea what the stolen power did.

The orange Glow left Lynn's right hand and flew towards Shego. It didn't fly as fast as Shego's bolts did, and she had no trouble dodging it. To her surprise the glowing sphere curved towards her. She managed to scramble out of the way again.

"Hah! Yes, dance for me Shego," Lynn said. "You're not the only one here with powers."

"You have no right to that Glow, thief," Shego said, as she moved to avoid the persistent missile. She noticed that only one of Lynn's hands was glowing.

"I don't get why you're so angry, Shego. It's not like it's your glow I stole."

"Yes it is. The Glow belongs to my family, and no-one else."

"You don't even like your freaky family. But have it your way."

Lynn sent another sphere after her. Shego noticed that the Glow actually left her hand completely to form the glowing missile. She didn't have time to observe much more, since all her concentration was required to dodge the two homing missiles. She wondered if they actually were homing, or if they were under Lynn's control.

"And why are you being so buddy-buddy with Kim frickin' Possible? I know that she sent you to prison, too. Why not join forces and get back at her right now?"

As if summoned, Kim burst through the doorway into the room. One of the spheres streaked towards her. She effortlessly dodged it and made a bee-line for Lynn. The sphere curved in the air towards Kim's back. Before Shego could warn her, the sphere struck.

The orange Glow impacted in the center of Kim's back and ricocheted harmlessly away, barely checking Kim's stride. Shego cursed herself for wasting time dodging the useless things. She should have realized Lynn would not know how to best use her powers a mere minute after getting them. She turned towards Lynn heedless of the other sphere, which hit her in the side.

It didn't bounce away. Shego screamed as pain exploded in her side, spreading around her body like her blood was on fire. The pain brought with it a certain clarity. Why was she fighting Lynn in the first place? She was right: she hated her brothers. Now there was somebody with a Glow she might get along with, someone who wouldn't self-righteously insist the Go Glow should only be used for good.

She remembered her lie about showing Lynn the ropes. She could actually do that. If the young woman was determined to embark on a life of crime, Shego could take her under her wing. The two of them could do great things together. She could tell Drakken to take a hike and form a partnership with Adrena. They could start right now, teaming up against Kim. There would never be a better time to get rid of her. Together they could end her, right now, and pin it on Jack Hench. He'd either go down for it, or do the cover-up for them.

Shego shook her head, angry at herself for even considering it. If Lynn had earned her Glow like she and her brothers had, in fire and pain and grief, maybe they could get along. But the useless coward had stolen it, looking for a leg-up for petty vengeance. Shego had told Kim the truth when she'd said she didn't want revenge for her prison stay. Tangling with crime-fighters like Kim and facing jail-time was an occupational hazard in her line of work. It wasn't personal, unlike Lynn disrespecting the worst day of Shego's life. Her anger boiled, this time directed at Lynn, and in a flash of green the pain left her.

For a moment, nobody in the room moved. Shego was lying on the floor, breathing hard. Kim was crouched at a workbench looking at Shego, concern plain on her face. Lynn stood at the end of the room and looked at both of them, nervous now. Abruptly she turned and ran. Shego wanted to go after her, but her limbs were strangely numb and she was panting like she'd run a marathon. Suddenly, and very inappropriately, it occurred to her that this was the second time in an hour she had felt this way.

"What are you doing standing around staring at me? I'm fine; go after her."

Kim gave her one last questioning glance, but turned to chase Lynn. Shego staggered to her feet. She wondered why the attack had affected her much more than Kim. Perhaps there was some interaction between their powers. That was certainly new. She took a step and, finding that her legs would carry her, started after Kim and Lynn.

Shego caught up with Kim in the entry corridor. Kim was fighting two of Hench's elite guards, big men dressed in body armor and dark visors and armed with stun batons. There was no sign of Adrena Lynn. With the way the operation had gone so far, Shego's reaction to the security detail ignoring Lynn in favor of engaging Kim was one of resignation.

As good as Kim was, she was having trouble with two opponents with superior reach. Shego wasted little time in moving to her aid, sending a green bolt in the face of one opponent and following through with a full-powered punch from her glowing fist. The punch cracked the henchman's armor and sent him staggering. Kim took advantage of the opportunity to drop him with a flying kick to the jaw. Shego switched targets to the remaining guard and destroyed his baton with one swipe from her clawed fingers. She finished with closed fists, one powered punch to the stomach and one to the jaw.

"Where's Lynn?" Shego said as the man was falling.

"I was just in time to see her exit through the door," Kim said, moving towards it. "I'm not sure why these idiots didn't stop her. Of course, they were more than happy to stop me, and I couldn't slip past them."

"Hench probably has standing orders regarding you. It's not surprising they'd prioritize you over a nobody."

They emerged from the door to find out the van was gone. They could hear the sound of an engine, receding fast. The man they'd left tied to a signpost was still there.

"Should have disabled the damn van," Shego said. Kim just grunted in response.

Shego looked at Kim. She could tell the redhead had questions, but didn't know how to ask them. That was all right, since Shego didn't know if she wanted to answer them. She wanted to blame Kim's interference for ruining things, but it probably would have gone the same way if she'd been here alone. She couldn't really blame anyone but herself. Herself, and Adrena Lynn, of course.

"I'm going to call the police," Kim said. "I don't think that Hench's people would do that."

"I hope you don't mind if I don't stick around," Shego said.

"You're okay with it?"

"I'm okay with anything that makes Jack's life harder."

"I'll stick around. I'm not sure what they'd do to the burglars if left alone," Kim said, nodding to the one they'd tied up.

"Okay. I, uh, I guess we'll see later."

"Yeah. Um, bye."

Shego walked away, feeling like she could have handled the parting more smoothly. She walked to the building she'd had her lookout in. It still didn't show any signs of life, despite the action nearby. She didn't have any critical equipment there, but she might as well collect it and not leave evidence of her presence behind. It was unlikely anyone would ever learn she'd been there, unless Kim told them, and she didn't think she would. She'd have to leave the cameras behind; with cops on the way it was too much of a risk to collect them. It wasn't a big loss. The cameras weren't that expensive, and were generic enough to not point towards her.

She made her way in through her accustomed route without any particular hurry. She closed the window and collected her gear, plus Kim's abandoned backpack. When she gathered the sleeping bag and stuffed it in the sleeve she couldn't help picturing the use they'd put it to not that long ago. It still smelled of that evocative combination of sweat and a muskier scent.

She wondered what she was going to do with Kim. She couldn't keep sleeping with the girl. It was obvious it would just encourage Kim, every repetition suggesting it might lead to something more. It might even, if they kept at it. The enemies with benefits thing sounded sexy as hell, but there was always a risk it would get complicated.

There was a reason Shego only did one-night stands and vacation flings. She couldn't afford romantic entanglements, so she took steps to avoid that happening. When she got lonely, or had an itch that needed scratching, she found someone attractive, but not too interesting, for some no-strings-attached fun, and then walked away.

The problem was that she couldn't really walk away from Kim. They would face each other again, and again. She thought she could keep things professional, but for all her skill Kim was still a hormonal teenager and didn't have the kind of discipline Shego had. She would likely keep flirting with her, more or less openly. If Shego was entirely honest with herself, which she rarely was, she wasn't sure she'd be able to resist the temptation indefinitely.

Relationship between them was clearly out of the question. She wasn't quite sure why Kim would even want to pursue such a thing. Apart from still being in the closet, Kim was a crime-fighting hero and she was a villain and quite happy with that. Any attempt at a romance between them could only end in tears, and possibly homicidal rage.

Shego felt annoyed with herself for even thinking about a relationship. Kim hadn't openly admitted what she wanted from Shego. She'd claimed she only wanted one night of hot lesbian sex. Asking for seconds wasn't unreasonable, but that was it. She'd given Kim what she'd wanted, they'd both enjoyed it and that was the end of the story. If the little minx asked for more, she'd just say no.

Shego walked up to the window to look at the situation at Hench's facility. One squad car had arrived, its lights cutting through the night. She was impressed by the response time. She fished her binoculars out of the bag and took a closer look at the scene. Kim was talking to an officer, looking calm and collected. With all her easy confidence and quiet authority it was very easy to forget how young Kim really was, and that this whole crime-fighting thing was just a hobby to her. She really was extraordinary.

Shego put the binoculars away again and risked a sweep with a flashlight to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She made her way out of the building and over to the parking lot. She couldn't see the entrance to the R&D building they'd used from over here, but judging by the number of colored lights reflected on the walls of nearby buildings, more units had arrived. She walked up to Kim's car and dropped the backpack next to the driver's side door. She concealed herself between bushes around the parking lot, not wanting to draw attention to herself with so much law enforcement personnel around, and sat down to wait.

Some ten minutes later Kim walked over to her car, alone. Shego had assumed the car would have some fancy alarm system, but Kim just walked over and opened the door. Conceivably the handle had some kind of biometric reader, or maybe she'd unlocked the car remotely when Shego wasn't looking. Surely it hadn't been unlocked all this time. Shego stood up, stretched her legs and walked up to knock on the window before Kim could drive away.

"Shego," Kim said after the window had rolled open. "I though you'd be gone by now."

"I figured you could give me a lift again," Shego said. She didn't wait for an answer, but rounded the car, got in, and stuffed her gear on the back seat.

"I'm not your chauffeur, Shego," Kim said, but pulled out of the parking lot anyway.

"You seemed happy enough to drive me around on Friday night, Kimmie. But don't expect a ride for a ride this time."

"We'll see," Kim said, giving Shego a teasing smile. "What about your car? Are you going to just leave it there?"

"Eh, somebody will notice it's stolen and it'll get returned to the owner," Shego said, guessing at the source of Kim's concern. "Don't worry about it." Kim didn't answer.

"You do realize I'm headed straight for Middleton, right?" Kim said.

"Works for me," Shego said as casually as she could. It had occurred to her that if Lynn really was after revenge on Kim, sticking close to her would give her the best chance for a rematch.

They both fell silent for a while. Outside the car the dimly lit streets of Upperton passed by as Kim made her way out of the city. Shego was unavoidably reminded of their last shared trip.

"What was that thing back there?" Kim said. "Was that what it looked like? Lynn got powers like yours."

"Cheap imitation stolen power," Shego said. "At least it seemed pretty useless. Did it even do anything to you?" She carefully neglected to mention its effect on her.

"Not much. There was a slight impact, a little like your power, only nowhere as strong."

"I suppose she might not have known how to use it," Shego said.

"Maybe. I seem to recall I figured out Hego's power pretty quick," Kim said.

Shego had almost forgotten that this wasn't the first time somebody other than her family had used the Glow. Shego looked at Kim from the corner of her eye. She had been standing next to Lynn when the device exploded, why couldn't she have been the one to end with the power? The thought of going against Kim with a Glow of her own was exhilarating. As long as it wasn't Hego's. A power so unfair on someone as skilled as Kim was more than Shego ever wanted to face.

"Shego, what was that device? Have they found a way to synthesize your glow?"

"No," Shego said. She didn't really want to explain it, but she knew how persistent Kim could be, and the cat was out of the bag anyway. "Hench's people found a glowing piece of a meteorite somewhere. Apparently they concluded it was a piece that broke off before the rest of it crashed into our yard."

"It seems like they were right."

"Yeah. Anyway. They thought it, too, could maybe give somebody superpowers, but, well, the only instance where that was known to happen wasn't exactly well-documented. So they could blow it up and hope for the best, but they wouldn't get a second chance."

"How did they even know that much?"

"Hego likes to give that 'destiny knocked hard' speech. It's no wonder somebody put two and two together. Anyway, Jack's a business man. He wanted to know if the piece could be used to give powers in a more controlled and—more importantly—repeatable manner. That gun device was used just for that."

"How's that work?"

"From what I heard, they bombard the meteorite with radiation and then focus the resulting energy release on a target. They get powers, but only temporarily. My intel on that is a little old, but apparently it only lasted a few minutes and they never really figured out what it does."

"So Lynn might have lost the power already?"

Shego closed her eyes with a pained expression. "I blew up the gun and the fragment inside in her face. That flash was... very much like what I remember. I think she has the powers for good." She'd made a bad mistake, and she should have known it beforehand.

"I'm sorry," Kim said.

"What? Why?"

"If I hadn't been there as a distraction, maybe..." Shego cut her off.

"I'd have done the same damn thing. I just wanted to get rid of it, I didn't stop to think what blasting it with my power might do. It's not your fault. Believe me, if I though it was, we wouldn't be talking."

"Okay." Kim said and, after a pause, asked, "How did you learn about this? How did Lynn learn about this?"

"From the same source. The facility came under scrutiny earlier, and Hench threw some of his people to the wolves to protect his image. One of them was a lab technician who ended up in the state prison with me and Lynn."

"Wait, when was this? If the place was compromised, why is it still there? Why was that device still there?"

"Jackie-boy can be pretty arrogant. He probably figured his lawyers would keep the law away. And relocating that whole thing wouldn't have been cheap. Anyway, Lynn and the nerd girl were an item, and..."

"Huh," Kim said. "I never figured Lynn was gay."

"Are you serious?" Shego turned to stare at Kim. "It never occurred to you that the short-haired extreme stunts tomboy might be a lesbian."

"You're stereotyping again. Hair aside, by that logic I'm a... uh, never mind."

"You know what? Fine; maybe she's not gay," Shego said. "Maybe it was just a prison thing. That happens, you know." Shego paused to wait for the inevitable question.

"Uh, have you ever..."

"No. I've never been inside for all that long," Shego said. "Or maybe she was just leading her on to get info out of her. The point is, she told Lynn everything about the device and the facility."

"Okay. How did you learn about it?"

"Apparently, when Lynn got paroled, she just dropped her like a sack of potatoes. I guess the little nerd had gotten a little attached and didn't take it too well. She complained about it, pretty loudly. Nobody really cared, until I overheard the bit about the Go Comet. Then I got the rest of it out of her. And no, I didn't sleep with her for it."

"I didn't think you did. You didn't beat her up, did you?"

"No. I didn't want to end up in solitary just when I very much wanted to escape, and I didn't need to. She was only too happy to vent. Most of it was boring stuff about her feelings, but I've gotten pretty good at tuning out pointless rants, working for Dr. D."

"That's cruel, Shego."

"I'm a mercenary, Kimmie, not a therapist."

"You know, I really don't get how Lynn is out on parole already," Kim said, switching topics. "She kidnapped a guy and almost killed her. You'd think that would get her twenty years rather than two."

"It probably helped she was a pretty white celebrity. I'm surprised she didn't get away with community service. Probably would have, too, if the case didn't involve a pretty white celebrity on the other side."

"Who are you talking about?" Kim said. Shego just gave her a flat stare.

"Wait, I'm not..."

"Which one of them are you going to refute, Princess? I'm curious."

"You think I'm pretty?" Kim said after a little pause.

"Of course you'd focus on that one." Shego rolled her eyes. "Look, we both know you're pretty, just like we both know I'm gorgeous."

"Yes, you are." Kim gave her a pretty successful roguish grin.

"How long till Middleton?" Shego could see the road signs just as well as Kim, but she wanted to distract her from this topic.

"A few minutes. Is there somewhere specific you want me to drop you at?"

"Aw, you're not taking me home?" Shego cursed inwardly. Hadn't she just tried to steer the conversation away from this?

"I don't think my parents would be too thrilled if I brought an escaped convict home." She was quiet for a moment. "I got into enough trouble over our... you know, the other night."

"Our sordid affair? I didn't think you'd tell your parents about it."

"I didn't, but Mom somehow figured out I had been sneaking out rather than on a real mission."

Shego wasn't surprised: like so many other teenagers, Kim seemed to overestimate her ability to hide things from adults, though she had to admit that before last weekend she hadn't even suspected the girl was crushing on her.

"I'm kind of semi-grounded at the moment. I only got out today when Wade vouched that I was really heading out on a mission rather than..." Kim glanced at Shego before continuing, "rather than to sleep with someone I shouldn't."

Shego laughed. "I'm so proud of you, Kimmie. We'll make a bad girl out of you yet."

Shego had a sudden vision of her and Kim taking on the world together. It was rather appealing. She'd always viewed Kim as a hopeless do-gooder, but given how readily she'd compromised her morals over the past couple of days, perhaps she wasn't incorruptible.

"So not happening, Shego." Kim's cheeks were tinted red. Shego had to wonder whether it was embarrassment or excitement.

"Well, never mind. There's a hostel I know I can get a bunk in."

"You stay in Middleton often?"

"More often than you might expect. It feels like half of Dr. D's plans seem to involve Middleton."

"Oh. Um, maybe look me up sometime if you're in the area?"

"Kimmie, if I am, it's because I'm on a mission you are trying to stop. You do understand conflict of interest, right? And I thought we both understood this was a one-time deal."

"Today makes two."

"And that's where it's going to stay. You can leave me off here."

Kim pulled to the side of the street and stopped the car. Shego reached behind her to retrieve her gear.

"You know, I've always wondered how a wanted criminal like you can move around so freely," Kim said.

"Kimmie, I work for a madman bent on taking over the world and I have superpowers. I'm a sexy, larger than life villainess with a very distinctive costume. People just don't expect me to stroll down a street in civvies. Even if they recognize me, nobody ever believes it's really me and not somebody that kind of looks like me."

"Really?"

"Really."

Shego was in the process of opening the passenger side door when Kim placed a hand on her arm. She froze at the contact. Though she was turned away from Kim, she did her best to keep her expression neutral. It was just a light contact, but she could distinctly feel the outline of Kim's hand, of individual fingers pressing against her arm, even through two layers of clothing. It was as if she was hypersensitive to Kim's touch and her touch alone. Goosebumps spread along her arm.

"Yes, Kim?" she asked, her voice carefully level.

"I... I just wanted to thank you. You know, for working with me tonight. I know you felt like I was intruding."

"It's okay. It made sense," Shego said. Finally Kim drew back her hand, but the sensation lingered. "Maybe we'll see each other again. I still want a piece of Lynn."

"Yeah, okay. Um. Goodnight, Shego."

"Goodnight, Kim," Shego said and slipped out of the car. She shouldered her burdens and started walking away, carefully not looking back. Her heart was beating too fast. She had time to walk two dozen paces before she heard Kim pull away. She could still feel a ghostly touch on her arm.

No, it was not possible. She had never had a romantic thought about the young hero in the two years she'd known her. Before last weekend, the very idea that there could be anything at all between them hadn't even occurred to her. Sure, the teen was cute, but she was so young, not to mention distinctly one of the good guys.

There was no way in hell she could be falling for Kim Possible.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Shego had been quite serious about people usually not recognizing her. When she got herself a bed at the hostel she didn't draw any more attention than any other attractive young woman. It helped that since green skin was listed as her most notable identifying feature many people expected it to be much more obvious than it actually was. In reality her slight greenish hue was only noticeable in good lighting, and easy to dismiss as an optical illusion.

She couldn't move about with impunity, of course. She needed to take care with everything she did and pay attention to her surroundings. She would have preferred a room at a hotel, for example, but that was one of the more risky situations, as it was a fair bet her picture had been circulated to the reception staff. It would only take one person to recognize her to ruin her day, but as long as she kept her wits about her and kept out of sight of law enforcement, she could get around more or less freely.

Shego didn't know when Adrena Lynn would strike at Kim. Since she was a revenge-obsessed newbie, it wasn't impossible that she would strike at her home at night. Villains usually avoided that sort of escalation, since it could lead to heroes escalating in turn, and nobody wanted an implacable vigilante on their tail. It was better to keep things impersonal. She briefly considered staking Kim's house for the night, just in case, but it would not do any good for her reputation if she was caught: either she would be considered a loose cannon, and therefore a liability, or an obsessed pervert.

She hadn't been entirely candid when she'd suggested that their dalliance becoming known would ruin Kim's reputation. Kim would probably be alright; people were generally very tolerant of youthful mistakes, even—or especially—of spicy kind. Young starlets had weathered much worse scandals. Some close-minded people might start to shun Kim if her lesbian affair with a known villain were to come to light, but Shego didn't think the public at large would hold it against her. It certainly wouldn't hurt her dating prospects any.

Shego, on the other hand, had more to lose. There was the fact that Kim was underage. She was over the age of consent in most of the world, past puberty, and definitely mature enough to make her own decisions, but technically not an adult quite yet. Criminal subculture was no more tolerant of that than the rest of the populace. Less so, in fact; a part and parcel of the rather macho culture.

Then there was the fact that Kim was a girl. The criminal world was startlingly conservative. Shego's sexuality wasn't exactly a closely-held secret, but as long as she didn't rub it in her client's faces they could pretend to not be aware of it. If she was publicly outed, she'd had much harder time finding contracts. Dr. Drakken wouldn't mind, but she probably wouldn't get work offers from, say, Senor Senior, Senior anymore, and it was good to keep one's options open.

Most damning of all was that Shego was a woman. If she was a man and if Kim was of age, she would receive high-fives and envious stares for managing to bed her. Because she was a woman, she would receive suspicion instead, thanks to the wonderful double-standard of patriarchy that reserved sexual conquest for men. People would wonder if it was indeed just sex or if there was something more between them. If she was sweet on Kim, she would be a liability. Not even Dr. Drakken could overlook the fact that her loyalties might be divided.

Even a hint of an affair between her and Kim would mean the ruin of her career. High-profile clients wouldn't touch her. She'd have to go independent, but a successful thief needed contacts and fences, and everyone she dealt with would wonder if she was on the level or if they were being set up. She couldn't be a criminal and be associated with Kim, and she couldn't go straight. She needed to put this fling behind her as fast as possible. It had been a mistake from the start.

* * *

Morning found Shego strolling near Middleton High. She tried her very best to not look like a pervert; being a woman worked in her favor there. She was dressed more presentably than she had the past couple of days, in smart slacks and a blouse. Her hair was up, to alter her looks. She risked dark glasses as they went with the outfit, even though they generally drew more scrutiny than they avoided.

She idly speculated if she should pretend to be a teacher and infiltrate the school to keep an eye on things. She was technically qualified, even. She'd love to see Kim's face when she entered her classroom and introduced herself. She decided that it would be a very bad plan. There was nothing to gain and a lot that could go wrong.

Shego finished her circuit around the high school. She hadn't seen any sign of Adrena Lynn or a planned ambush. She didn't know what she had expected to find, really. She didn't know for a fact that Lynn was after Kim. She had no idea how she intended to attack her if she was. She didn't know if she still had the van or not. For all she knew, she'd been picked up by the police already.

Coming here had been a little boneheaded, Shego decided. The chances of intercepting Lynn were slim and she risked been identified; people loitering around schools in the middle of the day tended to draw the wrong kind of attention. The problem was that she didn't really have a better plan. If she'd managed to stop Lynn at Hench's facility she wouldn't have this problem, but right now Kim was her best bet for finding her again. A traitorous part of her mind accused her of trying to find excuses to stick close to Kim, but she soundly ignored it. She wasn't the one with a schoolgirl crush.

Shego wondered why she was in Middleton in the first place. She'd set out to stop Adrena Lynn from stealing the Glow, and she'd failed already. There was very little she could accomplish here. She wasn't about to kill her, and Kim wouldn't let her maim her, either. About the best she could do was to ensure Lynn got captured as fast as possible. She was confident Kim could manage that on her own; there was no way the upstart could match up to her nemesis.

Middleton was also dangerous. Of all the places in the world this was where she was most likely to be recognized. Not only had she been here on a job several times, but it was a sure bet many of the locals closely followed the exploits of Middleton's most famous daughter, and could pick out her greatest foe. She really should try to keep out of view.

Shego decided that since she was already here, she might as well try to bring Lynn down. Second-guessing herself wouldn't help with that. She focused her mind on the task on hand.

What did Lynn know about Kim? Shego was fairly well-acquainted with Kim's domestic situation and usual routines, but there was no reason to assume Lynn was. Then again, Kim was a celebrity and there was plenty of material on her out there. She tried to recall what Kim had told her about her previous encounter with Lynn. Something about her kidnapping a footballer she thought Kim was dating? Shego smirked. She would have been better served kidnapping one of Kim's fellow cheerleaders.

Lynn could possibly hit Kim in school, but what could she hope to accomplish? She wanted to defeat Kim, probably publicly. Last time she had sought leverage. Where would she find it? Would she still assume Kim dated the footballer? Probably not. Shego knew Kim was a closeted lesbian, but she didn't think Lynn could possibly know that. To anticipate Lynn, she'd need to figure out what Lynn knew. If she again sought to kidnap someone Kim cared about she would need intelligence—on high school gossip. Shego groaned.

A quick and discreet visit to the school grounds netted Shego a copy of the school paper. She wasn't sure if taking something that was basically in the public domain counted as stealing, but she chose to consider it such anyway. She retreated to a nearby cafe to leaf through the paper. She skipped over bad poetry and infantile articles, hoping to find some summary of current gossip. The banal speculation on who liked who and what they did with them was almost physically painful to read, and gave her uncomfortable flashbacks to her high-school days.

The paper was of very little use. According to the gossips Kim was supposedly dating her goofy sidekick, Ron Stoppable, which seemed a little hard to believe. Then again, all that mattered was whether Lynn believed it. The buffoon was probably a good target, anyway, since Kim for some reason cared about him. Getting kidnapped and used as leverage was practically in a sidekick's job description, and he was someone even Lynn should be able to handle. Shego provisionally assigned Stoppable as Lynn's most likely target.

She got some magazines from a rack, ordered a refill of coffee, and sat down to wait for school to be over. It was amazing how slowly time went when you were trying to kill it. She got worried that the staff were beginning to pay too much attention to her with the cafe nearly empty, and left to find another. The time crawled forward.

Shego found a place from where she could observe the departing students without drawing attention. She recognized Kim without any trouble even in the midst of the teeming horde, walking with an African-American girl. She also managed to spot her blond sidekick, talking animatedly with a boy in a wheelchair. It almost seemed like Kim was deliberately steering away from them. Well, that was interesting. She couldn't blame Kim for not wanting to put up with him.

Shego considered whether she should follow Stoppable, based on her theory. She decided against it. She didn't care what happened to the sidekick, and if Lynn did kidnap him, she would surely let Kim know to lure her in. She was better off sticking with Kim.

* * *

Kim and her pretty friend headed for the mall. Shego wasn't thrilled about it. On one hand, as one face among many she didn't draw much attention, but on the other hand with dozens or even hundreds of people around, the chances were someone would recognize her. Oh well, she could always run.

The girls made a circuit of the mall, mostly looking at display windows, but they did enter several shops to peruse the wares. Shego decided that watching other people shop was considerably more boring than shopping oneself. Nobody seemed to recognize her; she saw no sign of Adrena Lynn. She began to wonder if she was just wasting her time.

Kim and the other girl, apparently called Monique, headed for a cafeteria on the ground floor, now carrying two bags. Shego picked a table nearby, out of Kim's field of view. She wasn't quite close enough to listen in on their conversation. She could recognize Kim's voice among the general noise, but couldn't make out the words. Judging from the obliging wide-eyed gasps and squeals of the other girl, they were probably gossiping about boys.

Only Kim wasn't into boys, was she? With a shock it occurred to Shego that if this Monique was Kim's high school BFF, Kim might be relating her experiences of the previous night. Shego felt lightheaded. Wasn't it her ears that should be burning? She had to set her coffee cup down. Why were her fingers trembling?

"Kim Possible!" The words cut across the noise of the crowd. "It's me, Adrena Lynn. Face me, coward!"

There was a sudden hush as everyone looked towards the source of the voice, Shego included. On the floor above Adrena Lynn stood on the railing, with arms raised in a bit of showwomanship. Shego had barely enough time to get annoyed by the showboating when a grappling hook attached to the railing right next to her. Shego's eyes flicked towards Kim's table. Kim was standing on it with a steely determination on her face and her absurd hairdryer grapple gun in her hand. Did she take it everywhere?

Kim shot across the air towards the blonde would-be villain, aiming a kick at her as she vaulted the railing. Lynn scrambled back to avoid it, falling on her behind in the process, but she quickly regained her footing and ran off. Shego dashed for the escalator. She couldn't help but be impressed—and possibly just a little aroused—by Kim's display of skill. Just how had she pulled out her grapple, aimed, and fired while everybody else was still gawking? Her combat instincts were amazing. No wonder she had had so much trouble with her.

It wasn't hard to determine the direction of Lynn's flight. The herd of startled shoppers she left in her wake kept her on the right track. Sprinting through the mall like this was unavoidably conspicuous, but with any luck she would finish her business in Middleton in the next few minutes. There would be plenty of time to make a clean getaway.

The crowd was thinning as Shego followed Lynn and Kim away from the shops. An open door suggested Lynn's flight had taken her to a service corridor. Shego rounded a corner and observed a frozen tableau as Kim faced off against Lynn. Lynn was flanked by a pair of security guards. It took Shego a moment to realize what was wrong with that picture: the guards were facing Kim, not Lynn. Lynn saw Shego from the corner of her eye and turned towards her.

"Oh, and here comes the girlfriend to the rescue."

One of the guards turned towards Shego. His eyes glowed orange.

"You got lucky this time, Kim. Next time, there will be no distractions."

Lynn turned to run away. Shego went to follow, but the security guard intercepted her while his partner charged Kim. The guard was bigger and heavier than Shego, with much more reach, and wielded a stun gun. Shego wasn't worried. She intended to go right through him and go after Lynn.

The guard was faster than she expected. He avoided her glowing fist and swiftly retaliated with a powerful blow, forcing her to scramble back. The guard pressed his advantage, charging Shego. She intercepted the stun gun with her glowing claws and destroyed it, receiving only a minor shock in the process. The guard was unperturbed and followed through with a shoulder check Shego couldn't avoid. She was thrown back and had the wind knocked out of her.

Shego avoided a kick from the guard and tried to sweep his legs from under him. She hit his calf, but the kick didn't have enough leverage to have much effect on the large man. She flipped on her feet as the guard pulled out his extendable baton.

Shego didn't give him time to use it, launching a volley of glowing spheres of force at him. They didn't have as decisive an effect as she expected, but he did stagger back under the onslaught, grunting with pain. Shego dashed forward and connected with the guard's jaw with a glowing uppercut. She struck him with enough force that his feet left the floor. He was out cold before he hit the ground.

Shego rested her hands on her legs, panting. She finally had time to pay attention to Kim. She was having trouble with the other glowing-eyed guard, circling him warily. Shego had seen her drop Dr. Drakken's guards much faster than this. It was possible she didn't feel comfortable using that level of violence on someone who might not be responsible for his actions. Shego straightened up and joined the fray. With the guard occupied by Kim, it was easy enough to reach up and stun him with a pulse of her Glow.

"Thanks," Kim said.

"Don't mention it," Shego said. They stared at each other for a while, catching their breath.

"Was that what it looked like?" Shego said. "They were under Lynn's control."

"Yeah. They moved in to restrain her, and she just fired those orange spheres at them. Next thing I know, they turned on me, with their eyes glowing."

Shego remembered when Lynn's stolen Glow had hit her. For a moment, she had felt an impulse to join Lynn and help her against Kim, before fighting it off. Clearly the guards hadn't had that level of will. She also remembered Kim hadn't been affected at all. It wasn't surprising the indomitable hero was too stubborn to succumb to it. She remembered facing her on the roof of the Bueno Nacho headquarters after Dr. Drakken's attempted mind screw, the steely determination in those green eyes. It had sent a chill down her spine.

"I hate mind control. And I used to think Hego's Glow was unfair."

"It doesn't seem to work on everyone."

"It probably only works on the weak-willed. Rent-a-cops don't have the finest minds," Shego said. "Did they seem too strong and fast to you?"

"Not super-humanly so. Maybe just hopped up on adrenaline."

"Hmm. Maybe." Another thought popped into Shego's head. "What was that about girlfriend? Did you tell her something?"

"As if. It sounded like normal taunting to me. You _were_ rushing to my aid like a guardian angel."

"I'm no angel, and I wasn't coming to help you. I was just going to kick her ass." Clearly Lynn didn't appreciate the difference between working together and coincidentally being after the same target.

"It's her you need to tell that to, Angel," Kim said with a smirk.

Shego was about to start venting her frustration on Kim when it occurred to her that she was a wanted criminal and that there were almost certainly more guards at the mall, quite probably headed for the scene of the disturbance. The police were likely also one the way.

"Uh, I'd better make myself scarce. Catch you later, Kimmie. Try not to need rescuing next time."

"I'm not a helpless victim, Shego," Kim called after her, like she needed that explained.

Shego moved carefully through the employers only area, searching for a back door out. It took her a couple of minutes, but she didn't see anyone in the meanwhile. The door was locked, but that hardly bothered her. She didn't see any police outside; if they were present, they had to be on the other side of the building. Shego quietly slipped away.

* * *

Shego wandered the outskirts of Middleton more or less aimlessly. Part of her mind was alert for signs of trouble, but she didn't really pay attention to where she was headed. She was lost in thought.

Mind control. Adrena goddamn Lynn had mind control. At least it didn't work on her. The debilitating pain had been a bigger problem. She belatedly realized she should have asked Kim if that had happened to the guards, but from her description of events it didn't seem likely. Possibly it had been a unique interaction between Lynn's stolen Glow and her own.

She recalled the two henchmen who had let Lynn go to fight Kim. Had they been under control, too? Probably, although Shego didn't recall noticing glowing eyes on them. They had been wearing visors, though. Two then and two now. Was that a coincidence?

Shego remembered how Lynn had launched her Glow at her. It had completely left her hand. Her hands weren't glowing at all in the encounter at the mall. Perhaps she was limited to only two minions at a time. That was something. Shego also suspected the power only worked on people who were minion material to begin with, though admittedly the sample size wasn't too large and included Kim who was the exception to most things.

Taking a pause from her thoughts Shego looked around and noticed she was in an upper middle-class suburbia. It looked familiar, but then the cookie-cutter residential areas tended to look alike. After a minute she realized why it looked so familiar: she was not far from Kim's house. Clearly her subconscious had remembered she needed to stick close to Kim to find Lynn. She took a roundabout route towards her house, intending to approach it by the little wooded hill behind it.

* * *

Shego paused at the edge of the forest and looked at the house. Lights were on, suggesting somebody was home. She wasn't sure how long days Kim's parents worked. She'd spent enough time in her meandering that Kim herself might have beaten her here.

Kim was a high-school girl who still lived with her parents, and she'd slept with her. Now she was looking to find a view to her bedroom window. Shego wondered if she actually was a pervert.

That wasn't a productive avenue of though. Shego focused on finding a good view of the house that also offered cover. She wasn't dressed for skulking around in the woods; she had anticipated urban surveillance when she chose the outfit. She could find a decent, concealed vantage by climbing a tree, but that would wreak havoc with her clothes. She also wasn't going to lay prone in the underbrush.

She was still looking for a comfortable perch when she was startled by a sound of explosion from the house. She bolted to a tree at the edge of the wood and peered out from behind it. The house seemed mostly calm for the moment. The quiet didn't last long; two more explosions echoed around the neighborhood.

Was somebody in the house under attack? She wasn't quite sure. She had gathered that Kim's younger brothers were enthusiastic rocket hobbyists and all-around menaces. She wouldn't put occasional explosions past her flaky father, either. Still, it could be Adrena Lynn making her move. Shego erred on the side of getting involved and dashed towards the house.

Shego pressed against the wall of the Possible residence. There weren't many windows looking towards the back of the house, and Shego didn't think her approach was spotted. She hadn't noticed any security, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. She spent a moment listening. She heard indistinct muffled noises from the house that could have been pretty much anything.

She made her way onto the roof of the split level house. She moved quietly, alert for any sound. She didn't hear anything. The house was quiet, maybe a little too quiet considering the series of explosions just a little while earlier.

Shego decided she needed to get inside to investigate. She was considering the best point of entry when she heard a slight sound that came from the roof. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. There was somebody behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Finally," Kim said as she burst through the door amidst a throng of other students. "I thought the school would never end."

"Hold up, girl," Monique said. "Aren't we going to wait for Ron?"

"Mo, girl talk, remember?"

"We could still say hi before we head off. You can't be in that much of a rush." Monique gestured towards the door. Ron was just exiting with Felix.

"No time." Kim grabbed Monique's hand and led her off.

As Kim led Monique towards the mall she developed a distinct impression of somebody following them. With Adrena Lynn on the loose, she was the most likely suspect. Kim covertly checked out her surrounding as they proceeded. She was relieved to discover they were being tailed by Shego; relieved and a little thrilled. Shego might protest that she wasn't protecting Kim, but she certainly did a good impression of it. Kim decided she could leave watching out for Lynn to Shego and enjoy her day out.

"First off we're going to check out a couple of stores, alright?" Monique said.

"Monique, I really need to talk to you. And not while browsing."

"Come on, Kim. I haven't seen you in days. There's some shopping I need to get out of my system."

"I'm not sure what you need me for. You always ignore my two cents anyway."

"I do not. I listen to your opinions. I only ignore them when you're dead wrong."

"Which seems to be always."

"Is that my fault?"

"Just a couple of stores, right?"

"Right," Monique said. "Then we'll grab a table somewhere and you can tell me all about what you've been doing the past few days. Or who you've been doing."

"Monique!" Kim blushed and averted her eyes.

"O em gee! Really?" Monique's eyes were wide.

"I... uh. Are you sure you want to go shopping first?"

"Now I'm seriously torn... but you have to see the things I found the other day. Then you will tee em e. And I do mean everything."

Spending some time shopping wasn't altogether a bad thing. Kim found it difficult to get exited by any of the tops or earrings or shoes they looked at, but she was grateful to have a little time to compose herself. She was about to out herself. Sure, Monique wouldn't blab, and it didn't need to go any further than her if she changed her mind, but it was a big deal. She wasn't sure how Monique would react when she heard who she had been sleeping with.

Monique finally decided she had covered everything important, and suggested they get a table at a cafe and talk. It wasn't quite as private as Kim could have wished, but it wasn't like there was anybody she knew there. There was a certain privacy in the anonymity of a crowd. The conversation of two teen girls wasn't likely to interest anyone else. Kim was starting to feel nervous. Monique, by contrast, was exited.

"So, there is somebody, then?" Monique said.

"Kinda, yeah."

"Kinda? Is it Ron? Is that why you've been avoiding him? I didn't really get that vibe from him."

"No, it's not Ron. It isn't any guy from our school."

"Are you going to tell me something at any point, or am I just going to have to guess?"

"Okay, okay, it's just that..." Kim trailed off. Then she rallied her courage and decided to just get the big one over with. "It's not any guy at all."

"Then why... oh."

"Yeah." Kim shrank in a little. She didn't think there was anything wrong with her for liking girls. She didn't think Monique would think there was anything wrong with that. It was still stressful waiting for Monique's response, like waiting for a judgment.

"Wow. I had no idea. When did you realize you went that way?"

"I've been trying to figure it out for a while now. I'm pretty sure I like girls. Some girls."

"I remember giggling about boys with you. Competing for their attention, too. Were you ever interested, or was that just your Kimness showing?"

"I'm pretty sure I like some boys, too."

"Are you sure it's not just a phase?"

"It's not a phase, Monique. It's never a phase. It's just how I am."

Monique was silent a moment, playing with her latte. "So who's the mystery woman?"

"..."

"I didn't hear you, Kim."

"...Shego."

"Shego. The green woman that tries to kill you every other week. That Shego."

"She doesn't try to kill me. She tries to beat me. That's different." She was also currently sitting a few tables behind her, but since Monique hadn't spotted her, Kim didn't see the need to point that out.

"How?"

"She doesn't want me dead, Monique. She's never wanted me dead. She's not a murderer." She decided not to mention that they had had fights where Shego could have killed her had she been even a little slower. They were both too good to let the other pull their punches, and there was always a chance of a tragic accident. But that went both ways, and Kim was confident in her abilities. She wasn't sure Monique could appreciate the distinction, though.

"Okay. Fine. Forget that. When did you jump in the sack with her?"

"Friday night. Well, more like Saturday morning," Kim said. Then she grinned. "And then Saturday afternoon and Monday night."

"Okay. Now I see why you've been busy." Kim just hummed, smiling.

"I though she was in prison. I'm pretty sure you aren't on the list for conjugal visits."

"Not anymore."

"Kim, please tell me you didn't break her out for a booty call."

"No! No. She broke herself out." Kim looked down at her untouched muffin. "I might have given her a lift."

"You just happened to be in the neighborhood, huh?"

"Shego's kinda predictable. I thought there was a good chance she would break out over the weekend, based on the timing of her earlier escapes, so I arranged to be waiting with a car. I didn't really expect to get lucky the first night, but I did."

"Got lucky is right. What kind of thing are we talking here? Some sexual tension you've been building over the years or something more?"

"We agreed it was just a fling."

"You don't sound so sure."

"Monique, I really, really like her. Last night when we said goodbye I touched her and it was like every nerve on my fingers was on fire. I've never felt like that with anyone else."

"Is it just physical attraction, or do you actually like her as a person?"

"She's not that bad. I mean, she puts up a front, but she's not that bad underneath it."

"Does she feel the same about you?"

"I... I hope so. She hasn't said anything, but I think she does." Monique gave her a skeptical glance.

"No, really. It's not just wishful thinking."

"Kim Possible!" the voice of Adrena Lynn said. Kim's eyes narrowed.

* * *

Kim sprinted through the mall hot on the heels of Adrena Lynn, dodging shoppers and fuming. First Lynn called her out, then she turned tail and ran. She really was a poser. Kim was just thankful she was wearing capris and Converses rather than a skirt. She reflected she probably should have considered the possibility of action when she chose her outfit this morning, but she really hadn't expected Lynn to make her move this soon. How had she even followed her here without either her or Shego noticing?

Lynn went through a door marked 'employees only'. Kim though the door should have been locked, but she didn't complain. There would be less bystanders in the service corridors. Kim had had occasion to visit this part of the mall before, and was tolerably familiar with the layout. She knew she had Lynn when she turned into a dead-end corridor.

"Nowhere left to run, Lynn," Kim said as she entered the storage room after her.

"And no distractions," Lynn said.

Lynn lit up her hands and shot two orange spheres at Kim. Kim didn't think she could dodge the missiles in the narrow space between crates and hand trucks and braced for impact. The glow hadn't had much of an effect on her the last time, but Lynn's determined look led her to suspect she had gained a better grasp of her powers since the last encounter.

The spheres struck her chest and abdomen. It was like being poked with a pillow; a little annoying, but quite harmless. This time the orbs didn't bounce away. They recoiled a little, but then pressed against her again. From the look of concentration on Lynn's face Kim concluded she was doing her best to will the spheres towards her. She wasn't sure what she expected them to do.

Kim felt sorry for Adrena. She was essentially just a showwoman who had overreacted to Ron accidentally exposing her tricks. Now she had thrown away her chance at rebuilding her life looking for a way to help her even the odds, and it didn't even work on the one person she wanted revenge against.

No, that was nonsense. Lynn had brought this on herself. She had been in jail because she had chosen to kidnap someone. She had never intended to use the break she had been offered; she'd set out to commit a crime the minute she was out on parole. Kim got annoyed at the orange things fruitlessly pushing against her and, flexing new mental muscles, she pushed back. The glowing spheres shot across the corridor and bounced off the walls a few times before winking out.

"It's not fair. Not fair!" Lynn said.

"Tough," Kim said. "Are you going to give up easy, or do we do this the hard way?"

Kim was interrupted as two security guards barged into the room. One of them was middle-aged, overweight and visibly out of breath. The other was young, tall and built; very nicely built. If the circumstances had been different, Kim wouldn't have minded giving him a second look.

"What's the situation, Kim?" the older guard asked.

"Adrena Lynn here just made parole. She seems eager to get back in, wouldn't you say?"

"I'd say that's a fair judgment. Don't worry, we'll hold her for the police."

The guards stepped closer to the blonde would-be villain. For some reason she looked more relaxed than at any point earlier in the encounter. She looked almost jubilant. Kim began to worry she had some ace up her sleeve, though she didn't have a clue what it might be.

"It's three against one, Lynn. It's over."

"Oh, yes it is."

Lynn lit up her hands again and sent a sphere at each guard, smiling a predatory smile. The spheres struck their targets and vanished. Kim though she briefly saw an orange nimbus surround each man, but it might have been an afterimage from the bright orbs. The guards walked over to Lynn and turned around, flanking her. Their eyes glowed orange and their expressions were blank. Lynn smiled triumphantly.

Kim eyed the trio warily as she put up her guard. As hard it was to believe, it seemed Lynn's power had just reversed the odds. Kim stepped deeper into the room. If she was going to face three-to-one one odds, she wanted more room to maneuver than the corridor offered. The guards had the advantage in mass and strength, but she had more skill and mobility. The stacks and shelves should work in her favor. Lynn and the security guards under her thrall followed her movements, circling to face her and keeping the distance. Lynn seemed to savor the situation. Stalling suited Kim, as she was expecting Shego to join the fray at any moment.

She didn't have to wait long. When Shego joined the fight the older guard charged Kim as the younger one intercepted Shego. Lynn used him as a cover as she sneaked out the door. Shego tried to follow, but she had her hands full with the guard blocking her way. Kim couldn't pay them any more attention, as she had an opponent of her own to worry.

Kim wasn't sure what to do. She could easily stay out of reach of the old security guard, but with the baton he was wielding it wasn't easy to get close enough to do a clean take-down. Her fighting brain supplied her with a catalog of moves to disarm or disable him, but she didn't want to hurt him. There was a stun gun on his belt. If she could get her hands on it, maybe she could use it to finish the fight. No; he was old and overweight, his heart might not stand it. Her dilemma was resolved by Shego, who dropped the guard with one touch, the show-off.

* * *

Kim watched Shego depart and then checked on the guards. The one Shego had stunned with her glow was breathing fine. The younger one had a broken jaw. Shego really needed to learn some restraint. The guards had just been doing their job when Lynn took control of them. Kim called Wade and asked him to make sure the guards got medical attention, then went to find Monique.

"So who was that?" Monique said as they exited the mall carrying her shopping bags.

"Adrena Lynn. She has a grudge against me."

"You have many enemies like that?"

"Most of them keep it to working hours, so to speak."

"Did you catch her?"

"She got away. I'm sure she'll be coming after me again. Uh, Mo, I hate say this, but maybe you should keep a little distance until I get her."

"And when you say 'get her' you mean..?"

"Monique! She's a foe."

"And Shego isn't?"

"It's different. And Adrena Lynn is so not my type."

"Not into sporty blondes? You just like fit brunettes, then, huh."

"Monique, can we get off this subject?"

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to talk about it. Oh!" Monique stopped in her tracks, eyes wide.

"What?"

"You slept with Bonnie!"

"What?" Kim quickly looked around her. "Who told you that?"

"I just figured it out. I thought there was something weird going on between you two, but it only clicked right now."

"Don't spread it around, okay? And it's not like we're a thing anymore. If we ever were."

"I don't see how you ever could have seen that working out. All you ever do is fight... Is that what it takes to get your interest? Are you sure you don't want to give this Adrena a chance?"

"I'm not discussing this. Look, seriously, keep your head down for a while. Lynn doesn't seem to have a lot of patience, I'm sure she'll try to attack me again soon."

"You be careful, too, Kim."

"Eh, I can handle her. So not the drama."

* * *

Kim made it home before her parents. The empty house was somehow disorienting after school and the mall. Lights were on, suggesting her brothers were home, but from the silence Kim concluded they were in the basement lab; plotting, not doubt. Kim made her way to her room and dropped off her school things. She was about to change when she decided she had a more immediate need. She never had got around to finishing her muffin. She headed out for the kitchen.

Kim spied something from the corner of her eye, and dove to ground just in time to dodge a rocket that would have hit her head. It exploded against the wall, showering her with shrapnel. The explosion was loud enough to make her ears ring.

"Tweebs!" Kim said. The rest of her admonishment died on her lips when she saw his brothers.

Jim was holding a pistol that looked like a ray gun from a cartoon, while Tim had an armful of small rockets like the one she'd just dodged. They had identical looks of mischief on their faces, and they looked at her with identical glowing orange eyes.

Jim took aim, and Kim moved. She kicked at the wall to launch herself the other way. Searing beams followed in her wake, scoring the floor. Kim rebounded from the opposite wall and dove for the stairs. She descended in a more or less controlled tumble. He could hear her brothers running after her.

Kim's mind whirled. When had Lynn got to her brothers? Had she been at the house to look for her? Was she still here? How much autonomy did her minions have? Assuming the two henchmen in Upperton had been under her control, they had stayed to delay Kim while Lynn escaped. Lynn could have left her brothers here to ambush her and left.

Lynn's power had worked on her brothers; her annoyingly bright and willful brothers. There had to be another reason the power hadn't worked on either her or Shego than strength of will. She remembered the green flash when Shego had been struck by Lynn's power. Perhaps her own glow had protected her. Between Shego and her, the implication was clear.

Kim's thoughts were interrupted when her brothers got her in their sights again. The living room was too open to give any cover from their attacks, and the bedrooms were dead ends. She didn't want to lead them outside as that would place bystanders at risk. She lunged into the kitchen.

She couldn't stay on the defensive indefinitely. Unfortunately she didn't have any of her gear, and the weapons her brothers had made ambushing them too dangerous. She had no real means of protecting herself, except staying out of their sights. Well, there was one, but it wasn't a path she wanted to take, and since she hadn't exactly gotten a lot of practice in, she wasn't even sure it would work. An almost-familiar sensation pushed at the edges of her consciousness, reassuring her that it would.

Her brothers had split up. Jim stepped in front of her as she exited the kitchen from the back, and she could hear Tim coming up behind her. The gun came up and she was out of options. She threw her hands in front of her and willed her new glow into being.

Kim's power lit up with a yellow flash, smooth luminescent spheroids enfolding her hands. The incandescent beam struck her glowing hands and was reflected back at its source, blowing up the gun in Jim's hands. Kim whirled to face Tim. He lobbed two rockets at her, which ignited the moment they were in the air and streaked towards her. She intercepted both with the yellow glow surrounding her hands, sending them towards Tim. Still powered and homing for her, the rockets didn't quite return to the sender, but veered into the walls and exploded. Tim still went down hard. Kim didn't waste a moment in closing the distance to Jim.

This wasn't like facing the security guards or the henchmen. With her brother unarmed, Kim had the edge in everything that counted. She was bigger, stronger, faster, and much more skilled. Before Jim could recover she had him in a choke hold, pressing down on his carotid arteries to cut the flow of blood to the brain. Her spine went icy cold at the thought of using a potentially dangerous move on her brother, and she eased up the moment his struggles ended, trusting he wasn't playing possum. She would have tried it, Shego would have tried it, but her brothers' fighting experience was limited to schoolyard scuffles. She didn't think Jim had the presence of mind for deception.

Kim spent a few seconds making sure that Jim's breathing and pulse seemed alright, then went to check on Tim. He was out cold, but breathing. Kim suspected a concussion from the fall. She gingerly felt at his head, but only detected a small bump at the back. Luckily there would be a neurosurgeon at hand to examine him shortly.

Kim went to the supply closet, got some zip ties, and secured her brothers, not knowing how long they'd be out or if they'd still be under Lynn's control when they came to. Only then did she go to her bedroom to retrieve her Kimmunicator, which had been beeping for a while.

"Kim. You just got a video message on your site. I think you need to see it."

"Play it for me, Wade." Kim didn't really approve of gambling, but she would have bet good money it was from Lynn.

"Kim Possible," smirking Adrena Lynn said. "I hope my little helpers weren't too rough on you. I know they had some freaky stuff in their lab."

Lynn moved out of the frame, revealing Ron tied to a metal scaffolding. Next to him, Felix lay tied up in front of his wheelchair.

"I've got your boy toy. If you don't want anything bad to happen to him, come alone. You know where." The camera superfluously zoomed out to show the dilapidated roller coaster at the old Middleton fairground. Lynn walked back into the frame. "The clock's ticking."

"How do you want to play it, Kim?" Wade said.

"I'll play it by her rules for the moment. No police." Kim paused to listen. She was certain somebody was walking on the roof, and with Lynn presumably at the fairground, the list of likely suspects was very short. "But I'm not going in alone. I think my backup just arrived."

"What do you mean, Kim?"

"Better you don't know. I'll talk to you later."

Kim closed the Kimmunicator and made her way onto the roof. Shego whirled around as she approached her, hands lit up.

"Hi, Shego," Kim said, her face unusually grim. "Do you still want a piece of Lynn?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Kim drove her car through the forest towards the old Middleton fairground. Her eyes were hard as she scanned the road. She remembered her mother patching her brothers up, the bandages on Jim's wounded hand. She was determined to end this tonight. Adrena Lynn was going down.

"Uh, Kimmie, maybe you should slow down a little? This road has seen better days." Shego sat in the passenger seat, looking a little uneasy.

"I've got this."

"Sure. But if you eased up on the gas a little, maybe we could talk strategy."

"What's to talk about? We go in, we punch her in the face, done."

"If that's your usual approach, it's a wonder you ever managed to stop us."

"Well, she doesn't have a giant doomsday machine with a big red self-destruct button," Kim said, some humor creeping back into her voice.

"I think you're her big red self-destruct button. The second she got involved with you, she just went all crazy."

"Well, I have that effect on some women." Kim gave Shego a quick grin.

"Very funny," Shego said. "You know she'll have your sidekick under control when we get there."

"Him, and Felix, too."

"Felix?"

"He's a friend. I guess he and Ron were playing video games together when Lynn ambushed them." Kim reached over to open the glove compartment and rummaged for a while before retrieving a photo of her, Ron, and Felix. "That's him, in the wheelchair."

"So she's got a cripple. Scary."

"Shego, if you don't respect him, respect his wheelchair. Your boss and Motor Ed stole it once. Her mom's a robotics expert and has tricked it out with all sorts of ferociously cool gear. It's freaky."

"Oh, please don't start using Lynn's catchphrase. I heard it enough in the prison. It's really annoying. Seriously, it is."

"Oh, god, fine, I'll stop if you will." Kim nudged Shego with her shoulder, smiling. "That was a pretty good impression, though. Seriously."

"Kim, focus. We're here to deal with Lynn, and that will conclude our cooperation. Once she's in custody, we'll go our separate ways." Kim was hurt by the rebuff, but tried not to show it.

"Do you think she'll expect you to be with me?" Kim said.

"I was there the last two times. She'd be an idiot not to."

"I think I should still drop you off before I go to confront her. Maybe she'll ease up on the hostages if I appear to be following her rules."

"Fat chance. You'll just be stuck with a three-to-one fight. You're the only one here who plays by the rules. Well, most of the time, anyway. But it's your call."

"Really? I thought this was personal for you."

"She went after your family. All I can do is sent her to jail, anyway, since I can't de-power her."

"What about that device Aviarius had?"

"Somebody here destroyed it, remember?"

"Somebody here let me."

"I did not let you. That blue idiot just distracted me at a critical moment."

"Why do you work for him, anyway?"

"Kimmie, this is neither the time or the place, and it isn't any of your business, anyway."

"Fine." Kim was silent a moment, concentrating on the road weaving its way through the forest. They were nearing the fairground. "I think I'll drop you off at the next bend. Maybe you'll manage to get a drop on her."

"Are you sure? You'll have to fend them all off while I get in position."

"I can handle it."

Kim stopped the car and Shego got off. She really wanted to ask her for a good luck kiss, but Shego didn't seem to be in a mood to comply.

"Right. See you on the other side, Kimmie."

"Knock her dead," Kim said. Then she remembered who she was talking to. "Only not really."

* * *

Kim parked the car by the fence, or what was left of it. The place looked very much the same as the last time she'd been here. Kim headed for the roller coaster, since Lynn had shot her video there. She knew that was no guarantee that Lynn would be waiting there. She cautiously made her way past the other amusements, ready for an ambush.

The expected ambush did not materialize and Kim reached the foot of the roller coaster without an incident. Adrena Lynn stood on the track, a couple of dozen feet off the ground, smiling maliciously. Ron laid wrapped in ropes at the base of one of the support pillars, his back turned to her. Kim resisted an urge to rush in to check on him. It was almost certainly a trap. She didn't think the ropes were actually tied, and she figured Ron was turned away to hide the glowing eyes. She still felt a sting in her heart at Ron's plight and her inability to help him right now. She didn't see any sign of Felix. It was worrisome; with the mobility his flying wheelchair gave him, he might well get the drop on her.

"Here I am, Lynn. Let them go."

"You don't really believe I'd let them go. Much like I don't believe you came alone. Where is that freaky girlfriend of yours?"

"She is not my girlfriend! I don't know where she is."

"Well, your boyfriend is right there, and you're not making any effort to help him. I don't think you're a very good girlfriend."

"You're one to talk. I heard you were so eager to chase me you just dropped your poor prison lover. You really must have missed me."

"Oh, look who tries to talk like a grown-up. Enough of this nonsense."

Ron jumped up and the ropes fell from him. He wordlessly charged towards Kim, his orange eyes narrowed in concentration. Kim had rarely seen him this poised. She adopted a defensive stance and waited for him to make the first move. It was a more conservative approach than she usually favored, but she wasn't sure what to expect from him. He had his moments of dumb skill, after all, and he looked to be on tonight.

Ron was on her, unleashing a series of punches and kicks. Kim deflected or evaded most of them, and the few that got through didn't have enough on them to seriously hurt her. She had trouble connecting on her counter strikes. It wasn't just her reluctance to hurt Ron; he made himself a difficult target, crouching low to the ground, but moving much more adroitly than one would expect from the awkward posture, sometimes on all fours. Kim was surprised and impressed; clearly Ron was much more adept with Tai Shing Pek Kwar than he let on. Why couldn't he ever show this level of skill on her missions?

Kim nearly missed it when Felix swooped into the fray, and almost paid dearly for it. She heard his chair at the last moment and ducked low to avoid being brained. The wind from his passage fluttered her hair. She was distracted enough that Ron connected with a solid blow. He had likely aimed for her nose or even her throat, but her last minute dodge meant she took the hit to her brow. It stung and she was dizzy for a moment. She sprang back on instinct to deny Ron follow-up opportunities.

For the next few seconds Kim was busy dodging Ron's punches and kicks, seeking to re-establish her balance. It didn't help that she now had two targets to keep an eye on with Felix hovering nearby, looking for an opening. Three targets, if she counted Adrena Lynn, but she hadn't moved from her position on the roller coaster, looking at the fight with glee. Glancing towards Lynn she finally spotted Shego.

Shego had climbed the roller coaster and was sneaking towards Lynn. She had waited until all the attention was on Kim before she made her move. It was a sensible strategy: if she could put Lynn out of commission, it could very well free Ron and Felix from her control. Kim wanted to see if she'd succeed, but couldn't afford to keep looking, both because she didn't want to give away her position and because she was too busy.

Kim was exchanging blows with Ron when he suddenly disengaged and sped for the foot of the roller coaster. Kim was caught off guard and stood frozen for a couple of seconds. Felix followed Ron's example and steered his wheelchair towards the elevated track. Following his flight, Kim saw that Shego had abandoned stealth and was sprinting towards Lynn who had turned to flee along the tracks. Ron was making his way up the ride, jumping from beam to beam like a monkey. Kim didn't think she could climb the structure that fast.

Of course, she didn't need to. She pulled out her hair dryer grapple gun and aimed at where Lynn was headed. The hook flew through the air true on the course, but Felix intercepted it with one of the robotic claws installed on his wheelchair. Felix gave the wire a yank and Kim let go of the gun rather than be dragged along. It could have been worse: he could have waited until Kim was airborne.

Ron made it onto the track and squared off against Shego. Felix streaked back towards Kim, using both claws to rip chunks off the roller coaster and other crumbling rides, and launching them at Kim. She was kept busy dodging.

Kim didn't see much percentage in remaining where she was. Felix hovered well out of her reach, pelting her with debris; even turned into a goon, he still seemed smart. She couldn't climb the roller coaster without leaving herself wide open. She turned tail and ran, diving inside the first building she saw. She was greeted by a dozen twisted reflections of herself.

Kim took a moment to catch her breath. If Felix followed her in, the circumstances should favor her. Felix's wheelchair's flight capabilities and claw-tipped metal tentacles gave him an edge in mobility and reach out in the open, but in the confines of the building they would be mostly negated. She wondered if Felix realized it, too. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to follow her in. Kim checked the other end of the hall of mirrors for the back entrance. Not that it would make a lot of difference if Felix entered that way. He would still be constrained by the layout.

After a minute Kim began to wonder if Felix was going to follow her in at all. She decided she needed to get back out there, but the problem was that Felix could be lying in wait at the door. But which door? Trying to outguess somebody trying to outguess you got really complicated really fast. She might as well flip a coin to decide which exit to use. Or maybe she could make her own. The place was dilapidated enough that she might be able to break a wall somewhere.

Noise from above her suggested that Felix had chanced upon the same idea. She tried to locate the source of the pounding sound as she prepared to receive him. The wall above the mirrors burst apart accompanied by green blasts, and Shego dove in.

"Didn't get her, huh?" Kim said.

"I couldn't get past your sidekick, and when the fly boy joined in I had to bail. Thanks for leaving me hanging."

"There was nothing I could do from where I was. I was trying to draw Felix in so I could deal with him"

"Well, it didn't work. And when the hell did your buffoon get so good?"

"Ron," Kim said, emphasizing the name, "is better than most people give him credit for, including himself. I've always known he has potential. I'm trying to get him to put in the effort to make good on it, but he just likes slacking off."

"Well, he picked a very inconvenient time to find the motivation. And what was with the moves? I'm pretty sure it must be a martial arts style, but I don't recognize the school at all."

"It's some monkey Kung fu he picked up in Japan. He's been working on it on and off. I've rarely seen him this on, though."

"I guess he just needed some woman to dominate him to reach his potential. Maybe Adrena does something for him you just don't."

"It's called mind control, Shego."

"Goddamn mind control," Shego muttered as she restlessly looked around. "I guess they aren't going to follow us in."

"They probably know the close quarters would favor us."

"I'm not so sure, the way monkey boy was jumping around, he might do better than you here."

"As if."

"I think it's the cameras. She's got at least two cameras set up around the roller coaster. I think the delusional bitch thinks she's going to win and wants it on tape."

"Makes sense. The first time she went after me, she wanted the world to see her take me down. Like you said: delusional."

"You can say 'bitch', Pumpkin."

"And you can try not saying it."

"We need to get back out there. You take Ron, you know him better than me. I'll take the flying wonder, at least I can attack at range."

"We don't need to fight them, we just need to get Lynn."

"I tried that already. It seems we need to go through her minions to get her."

"Shego, we already tried taking them on separately. It's not working. We need to work together."

"Well, aren't we?"

"According to you, we're just both after the same target. That's not enough. Ron and Felix are on the same page, because they are both doing Lynn's will. If we want to match them, we need to get on the same page, too. We must work as a team."

"Teamwork doesn't just happen out of the blue, Kimmie. It takes practice."

"Shego, we've been fighting each other for years, we both know what the other can do and how she thinks. We have great chemistry, you know we do. We proved it against Aviarius." Kim took a step closer to Shego to lay her hand on her arm. She thrilled at the jolt she felt at the touch. It only lasted a second as Shego pulled away.

"Don't go mushy on me, Kimmie. You want us to work together? Fine, we'll work together." She walked up to the door. "Now let's go kick their asses."

* * *

Kim and Shego burst through the door, diving forward to avoid an expected attack. Nothing happened. Getting up they saw that Lynn was still standing on the roller coaster, now flanked by her unwilling accomplices.

"Had to powder your noses, ladies? If you're done with your make-out session, can we finally get this over with?"

"She's really stuck on that line of taunts," Kim muttered in Shego's ear.

"She's projecting," Shego said, much louder. "Don't worry, Lynn. You'll be reunited with your prison sweetheart soon enough."

"Up?" Kim said.

"Up."

The women sprinted for the ride and began scaling it even as Ron and Felix moved to engage them. Felix reached them first, obviously. He attempted to pluck them from the structure with the telescopic manipulator claws on his wheelchair. Shego directed a few bolts his way. She couldn't maintain a very high rate of fire one-handed, but the need to dodge the missiles kept Felix busy for a while. Kim waited for her moment and then leaped at Felix, kicking him in the stomach. She pushed against the momentum of the chair to jump back towards the roller coaster and grabbed hold of a beam. Felix swerved away, doubled over.

"You could have put him out of commission, Kimmie," Shego said as she helped her to a more secure position.

"He's my friend, Shego. I don't want to hurt him unnecessarily." She probably could have unseated him and put him out of the fight. He probably would have survived a fall from this height, but she didn't want to risk it. It would almost certainly break some bones.

Ron was on them, fearlessly attacking them even with all of them clinging to the structure. In an environment like this, Ron was the most effective of them. Shego and Kim could generally spare one arm or leg for combat, while Ron was constantly in motion, sometimes hanging by his hands, sometimes his legs, or any combination of them, constantly shifting his attacks. This was the kind of terrain that favored a disciple of Tai Shing Pek Kwar. However, working together they could fend him off and still make progress upwards.

Kim risked a glance up at their target. On the top of the structure Lynn still only watched, now a little frustrated. Her eyes met Kim's and glinted with malice. Instinctively Kim looked at Ron. He lunged at her, heedless of the drop below, arms stretched out to grab her.

Kim wanted to activate her glow. If the power worked as she thought it did, reflecting attacks directed at her, it would send Ron back along his trajectory with almost none of the momentum transferred to her. She would maintain her grip and Ron would gain an opportunity to regain a hold, some self-preservation instinct hopefully still operating regardless of Lynn's directions.

She couldn't do it. Shego was right there next to her. Kim remembered the look of fury on her face when she saw Lynn with the stolen glow. She didn't ever want to see Shego look at her like that. Shego could never be allowed to know Kim had a glow of her own and so she could never use it in public. She tried to hang on with all her might as Ron grabbed her waist.

The impact pushed her body outwards, and her foot slipped. She was hanging from a beam with her hands, supporting both her own weight and Ron's. Her fingers burned under the strain, but for the moment she held on. Ron twisted around, trying to dislodge her.

"Kim! Hang on!" Shego climbed down to be level with Kim. "If I stun him..."

"He'll fall and break his neck! You can't do that."

"I have to do something!"

"Go get Lynn, the route's clear. Without her controlling him, we'll be fine."

Shego looked up, then at Kim's slipping hands. "I'll never make it in time."

"You will. I can hold on." She tried to project confidence as she looked into Shego's eyes. She looked back at her, some unknown emotion in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kim, but I can't risk that." She reached for Ron.

"No!"

Shego's hand flared green and Kim felt Ron's grip relax. Before he could fall Shego shifted her hand to grab him by his collar. Kim's mind was working feverishly, calculating angles and forces and future trajectories. Shego was crouching on an angled beam, one hand behind her gripping another. There was no way Shego could maintain her grip with Ron's weight on her. She had a fraction of a second before sudden impulse of Ron's weight on her would force her to let go of either the beam or Ron.

Kim pulled her legs up and twisted around to place her thighs on Shego's shoulders, letting her calves rest against her sides. For once her mind was too busy for the action to give her flashbacks from Saturday. As Ron's weight pulled Shego forward, Kim hooked her legs under her arms, grateful for the time spent on the rings in gym class.

They came to rest with Ron's dead weight distributed between them, Shego clinging to the supports with her legs and one hand, supported by Kim's legs. Kim was still hanging by her fingers that burned with the effort, now hanging at an angle and her torso twisted, but the strain wasn't any worse than with Ron alone, and at least Shego wasn't working to shake her loose.

"Teamwork, huh?" Shego said.

"I told you we have good chemistry," Kim said.

"Now how do we untangle ourselves?"

"You weren't so anxious about that on Saturday."

"I didn't know you were into three-ways." Kim blushed at the images the comment conjured.

"I can probably shimmy a little closer, ease the angle on you."

"Better get on it, Kimmie. The wheelchair boy is recovering."

"Right."

Kim forced her aching fingers loose and moved her hand a few inches before gripping again. The sharp edge of the metal beam bit into her. She gritted her teeth and moved the other hand. She wanted to take a little break, but there was no time. She repeated the sequence of actions twice more.

Her movements dragged Shego closer to upright, and getting a better leverage on her arm she managed to pull herself rest of the way up. Standing solidly on a beam, she dragged Ron's body up and laid it to rest on the beam, arms and legs hanging over each side. Kim pulled herself up onto the beam she was hanging from.

"Come on, Kimmie. No time for a break," Shego said.

Shego again began to scale the roller coaster. Kim forced herself to follow, but her fingers throbbed with pain and she could barely maintain a grip. She couldn't keep up with Shego, who reached the track before her.

Lynn's choice of position worked against her now. Stranded on the track high above the ground she had very few options for escape. Felix, recovered and hovering near Lynn, offered one, but she didn't seem keen to take it. Perhaps she didn't trust the wheelchair to support both their weight.

Kim clambered onto the track and saw Shego and Lynn faced off against each other. Shego's hands were alight with a green glow, while an orange glow surrounded one of Lynn's hands. That might mean Ron was no longer under her control.

"Give it up, Lynn. You have nowhere to go," Kim said.

"Give up? He can still knock you both off," Lynn said, nodding towards Felix beside her.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Shego said. She lobbed a few bolts at Felix, who dodged them.

Suddenly Felix flew at them, both claws snapping forward, while behind him Lynn turned to run. Felix directed one claw at each woman. Kim thought that was a mistake, and Shego demonstrated why, by slicing through the one reaching for her. Kim dodged under the one aimed at her as she ran past Shego.

"Yank it," Kim said as she passed her.

Shego didn't protest, but did as instructed, grabbing the intact mechanical tentacle and pulling hard. Felix was surprised at the move and his chair lurched forwards and down. Kim was still running straight at him, and before he could recover, she leaped at the wheelchair, grabbed hold of Felix with both protesting hands and pulled, kicking against the chair. She fell back onto the track with Felix in her arms. The wheelchair, suddenly lighter, gained altitude before veering away in an uncontrolled tumble.

Shego ran past Kim as she stumbled back up, hot on the heels of Adrena Lynn fleeing along the track. They had dealt with Felix so fast she hadn't built up much of a lead. Kim was momentarily torn with indecision. Without his wheelchair Felix was no longer a threat, even if conscious, but what if Lynn ordered him to throw himself off the roller coaster? She wanted to go after Lynn, but didn't want to leave Felix unattended. He was still trying to fight her, but ineffectually.

"I'm sorry, Felix," Kim said, as she rolled him on his stomach and restrained his arms behind him. She fished out a zip tie from her pocket and tied his wrists together. She reached for his belt to pull it off and use it to secure him to the track.

"I'm okay, Kim," Felix said. He twisted his head around to look at her. His eyes were blue. "Go get her."

Kim didn't waste any time sprinting after Shego and Lynn, who were a few dozen feet ahead of her. Shego didn't make things easy for Lynn by shooting glowing spheres at the track around her feet that exploded in bursts of green. Lynn moved gingerly, unsure of her footing, which allowed Shego to catch up. Kim was gaining even faster, sprinting down the uneven, dilapidated track without hesitation or fear. Both of Lynn's hand were lit up. Evidently she had decided Felix was no longer of use to her. Kim wasn't sure what use she imagined her power would be against her and Shego, since she couldn't control either of them.

Shego had almost caught up with Lynn when she stopped and spun around. She directed a glowing sphere at Shego, who was too close to dodge the homing orb. Shego screamed and dropped on her knees. She had been headed downwards, and after losing her footing she tumbled down dangerously on the sloping track. Suddenly there was a bright green flash from somewhere around her midsection and shortly afterward she managed to stop her headlong descent.

Lynn hadn't waited to see what would happen, and was running again. Kim reached the still slumped Shego. She jumped over her, her eyes focused on Lynn. The best thing she could do for Shego was to make sure Lynn wouldn't get another shot. Shego grunted something as she passed. She was pretty sure it was: "Get the bitch."

Lynn reached the entry platform for the roller coaster. She made a sharp turn to head away from the ride and threw an orange sphere at Kim in the passing. Kim swatted it away, the mere existence of her glow protecting her. She vaulted the railing separating the ride from the queuing area and tackled Lynn. It was very satisfying to feel her hit the ground hard.

Lynn twisted around onto her back as Kim straddled her.

"No! No, you will not win again." Lynn shot an orb right in Kim's face. She didn't even blink as it bounced harmlessly away.

"How? How are you immune?"

"That's the wrong question." The look of confusion on Adrena Lynn's face almost made her smile. "The right questions is: what will she do next?" Kim punched her in the face.

It wasn't really a very good, safe, or reliable way to render someone unconscious. You could break your fist and do worse to the other person's face. It didn't help Kim's already hurt fingers at all. But damn it felt satisfying after everything Lynn had done.

* * *

"Damn, Kimmie, that was cold. I'm impressed."

Kim turned around to see Shego, who had made it off the track. "Shego, how are you?"

"Better than her." Kim turned to look at Lynn, out cold.

She didn't seem so villainous anymore, lying there. She wasn't the extreme teen anymore, but she was obviously younger than Shego. She had turned to fraud to get some easy ratings, but clearly had some real talent and could have had a legitimate career. She was quite pretty, too; very well suited for television. It was a shame she had to be so unhinged.

"It's going to be a headache trying to keep her contained," Shego said.

"I don't know," Kim said. "Her glow doesn't seem to go through walls. As long as she's in a cell she can't do anything. They can probably cover her hands with something when they let her out of it."

Shego gave a little bark of laughter. "That's going to suck for her. She's got it coming."

"Yeah." Kim looked at Shego. "I guess you're leaving."

"We finally got her, Kimmie. Mission over. I'm just going to have to live with her having a stolen Go Team Glow."

"Could we, uh, maybe meet up later?"

"Kim, one time deal, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. But, I mean, I'm pretty sure we have something. So I was thinking..."

"Kimmie, I was trying to be nice about this."

"What?"

"You just won't take a hint, will you? So I'm going to say this in terms you can understand: I'm not interested."

"But..."

"Sure, I didn't mind having you. It was such a rush to have the famous Kim Possible between my legs, looking at me with lust in her eyes. But, in the end, you're just a little schoolgirl. You don't have what it takes to hold my interest."

"No, I don't believe you."

"That's your lookout. But if you show up to our next meeting expecting me to go soft on you, it's going to be our shortest fight ever. Because I am going to beat you six ways to Sunday." Shego turned and walked away.

"You can't mean that!"

"Whatever, Kimmie."

* * *

Kim just stared after Shego, her mind numb. Her eyes burned with tears she wasn't going to shed. Shego might have ripped her heart right out of her chest, but she couldn't afford to fall to pieces. The mission wasn't over yet.

Kim restrained Lynn, her body on autopilot. She found and old crate to cover Lynn's hands with, hoping that would be enough to contain her power until a more permanent arrangement could be made.

Working like a robot, and feeling like a zombie, she retrieved her hair dryer grapple and returned to Felix to untie him. Felix said something Kim didn't catch, looking much too cheerful. He pulled out a remote from his pocket and piloted his wheelchair back to him. Kim helped him into it and he gave her a ride back down. Felix then flew to retrieve Ron from his precarious perch with the one working claw.

The sight of her oldest and dearest friend lying on the ground covered in scrapes and bruises finally jolted some life back into her. She carefully shook his shoulder.

"Ron? Ron, are you awake?"

Ron opened his eyes and looked at her. "Oh, God, KP! I'm so sorry."

"What's to be sorry about, Ron?" Kim said, brushing some dirt off his cheek. "It wasn't your fault. It was all Adrena Lynn. I should be sorry for beating you up."

"Oh, man, I fought you. And Shego! That wasn't a dream?"

"No, Ron."

"Oh, wow. Oh, man, I totally kicked ass!"

"Yeah, you did." Kim smiled. "You were pretty impressive."

"Since when does Adrena Lynn have mind control powers? Why didn't I get the memo?" Guiltily Kim realized she had never warned Ron about Lynn being after her, or of her having powers. She had been too busy avoiding him and daydreaming of Shego.

"It's a long story, Ron."

"Maybe you could tell it over some nacos?"

"Yeah. Sure. Nacos sound good."

"Is it a date?" Ron said, hope plain on his face. Kim looked at the edge of the forest where Shego had disappeared.

"Sure, Ron," Kim said as she helped him up. "It's a date."


End file.
